Naruto the Shinobi Shaman of Konoha
by Resurrection of the Forgotten
Summary: Naruto was more than a shinobi, or the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. He was also a shaman and this fact was revealed on Team 7's first mission during their battle on the bridge. Now he will fight to achieve his goals to become Hokage and Shaman King.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Alright this is the first chapter for my new Naruto/Shaman King crossover; all I seem to write is crossovers. I was inspired to write this after reading Elemental77's A Change in Life. **

**I hope that this gets a positive response. Most of this will be based off the anime since I've never read the magna, but it's been a very long time since I've seen any of them so I'll be watching them again. Like all my fics updates will be inconsistent as I'll be updating all my fics as often as possible with whichever one I'm in the mood of writing.**

**Now own with Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Shaman King**

* * *

Chapter 1

"Talking"  
_'Thinking'  
_**(Author's Note)**

Twelve year old Naruto Uzumaki cursed under his breath as his body was once more riddled with senbon. Beside him his rival and teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, had just as many senbon protruding from his body as he did. Though the last Uchiha seemed to be doing much better recently as he started to block the senbon heading in his direction with a senbon he had pulled out of his own body, briefly Naruto thought he saw that Sasuke's usual black eyes were a blood red with a few tome in his pupil meaning that the raven haired shinobi had activated his clan's kekkei genkai the Sharingan.

Their opponent was a fake Kiri Hunter-nin with a kekkei genkai of his own that allowed him to use Hyouton jutsu and was an expert with senbon. At the same time their sensei, Kakashi Hatake, fought against Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, and their third teammate a pink haired girl by the name of Sakura Haruno protected the bridge builder Tazuna, the man they were hired to guard until the bridge they were currently fighting on was completed. Naruto struggled to get up in a kneeling position only to see the Hunter-nin prepare another barrage of senbon needles. Naruto instinctively closed his eyes in preparation for the pain that was sure to follow in seconds, silently cursing the fact that he couldn't go all out. Only to be surprised when he didn't feel anything, though he heard the senbon impact against something, and heard Sasuke let out a startled gasp.

"What the hell?!" Sasuke asked bewildered, starring at the senbon that had fallen harmlessly around them.

What Naruto could see and Sasuke couldn't, even with his Sharingan apparently, were the two muscular' ogre like creatures standing protectively between them and the confused Hunter-nin. For the most part the two ogres looked remarkably alike with the exception that one was red with two large horns coming out of his head, a pair of upward pointing tusks, carried a bottle axe, a five point star at the center of his head and a point at the center. The other ogre was colored blue with a single horn coming out the middle of his head and two downward pointing tusks, and a five point star shaped diamonds at the center of its head. They both had black armor on their hands and feet, with the only difference being the markings on the armor being in their respective colors, and black claws.

Naruto knew that their names were Goki and Zenki respectively and that the reason that he could see them and none of the others could was because they were a couple of shikigami, spirits, which he knew personally. Though Naruto felt some relief at the two shikigami's appearance he also paled slightly. _'If they're here,'_ Naruto thought, _'Then that means…'_ The blonde shinobi trailed off at the end as his ears picked up the sound of footsteps.

The footsteps were loud enough for everyone to hear, Kakashi and Zabuza having stopped their fight momentarily when they heard Sasuke's confused statement, and looked towards where the footsteps were coming from. From the mist emerged a girl around the same age as the Gennin of Team 7. The girl had short dark blonde hair, which could almost be mistaken for light brown hair that came down to around her shoulders, with a long red bandanna tied around her head. She had on a short sleeved jet black kimono that stopped at mid-thigh that was held closed by a dark blue obi, and black shorts underneath**(1)**. Around her neck she had on a blue bead rosary and a blue bead bracelet around her right wrist. The girl had on a pair of wooden sandals with red straps and she was holding a stick with a knapsack tied to the end. The blonde girl had slightly tanned skin and black eyes that had an apathetic look to them.

As the girl looked around at the gathered people, not at all concerned with the fact she had just walked into the middle of a shinobi battle; her gaze eventually came to rest on Naruto's downed form. A look of disapproval flashed across her face at the sight of his condition.

"Hey what are you doing here?!" Sakura shouted at the unknown, to most of them anyway, blonde girl. "It's dangerous here you need to leave right now!" The pinkette warned.

The girl didn't even spare Sakura a glance.

"Hey Anna," Naruto said, nervously scratching the back of his head out of habit, as he identified the girl as Anna. "Long time no see."

Sasuke spared his teammate a brief glance, wandering how he knew the dark eyed girl, before focusing his attention on their opponent but any attempt of an attack by the masked-nin was once more inexplicably blocked like before.

Naruto gulped uneasily when Anna didn't say anything and just continued to stare at him. "Um, what are you doing here?" He asked her.

"What sort of greeting is that?" Anna replied, eyes narrowed and a frown marring her otherwise beautiful face as she placed the knapsack on the ground beside her. "I came all this way and this is how I find you? On the ground beaten, you've obviously been slacking in your training." The blonde girl said before a smirk took the place of her frown. "I'll have to fix that," She stated definitely.

Naruto started to sweat lightly at Anna's declaration, while he trained hard every day what Anna called training Naruto called torture. Even with his insane stamina the blonde shinobi found himself exhausted after a few of Anna's set exercises.

"For now you'll have to take care of the mess your in." Anna finished, crossing her arms under her chest.

Then, unseen by everyone but Naruto and Anna, a man appeared out of thin air right next to the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. The fact he lacked legs and his bottom half was instead that of a ghost made it clear he was also a spirit. The male spirit had black eyes and long gray hair that was pulled back into a spiked ponytail with a few bangs framing his face. He had on a black kimono shirt that was left open to reveal his muscular chest, a white sash around his waist, and a white haori over it. On his shoulders and forearms were' red plated samurai armor. The ghost had a katana on either side of his waist held in place by a white sash. And, although they couldn't currently be seen, Naruto knew that the spirit wore black hakama pants, had the same red armor plating on his legs, and simple waraji sandals. The ghost's name was Amidamaru and he was also Naruto's Guardian Ghost.

"Amidamaru," Naruto said, greeting the spirit happily his previous nervousness disappearing at the sight of his partner. "It's great to see you."

"I am happy to see you as well my friend." Amidamaru replied before becoming serious and taking in the situation that Naruto found himself in. "Though I see that you're still getting yourself into trouble." The gray haired Guardian Ghost finished in a slightly accusing tone.

"Hey, it's not like I mean for these sorts of things to happen!" Naruto protested loudly. "It just always seems to turn out his way." The blue eyed shinobi finished in a mutter. Seriously Naruto swore he once had an epic adventure one day when he just went out to get some ramen.

"Who the hell are you talking to dobe?!" Sasuke demanded angrily. "Have you gone insane or something?!"

Naruto smirked at the raven haired boy but didn't bother answering, after all it was way too complicated trying to explain what he was and who he was talking to, as he pulled out some of the senbon that were impaled in his body now that he had some time to recover. The reason he looked tired before wasn't because he was low on chakra like Sasuke, he filled an entire forest clearing with Kage Bunshin when he beat Mizuki-teme to a bloody pulp, but because the Hunter-nin had hit many pressure points throughout Naruto's body with his senbon. Anna had given Kyuubi more than enough time to heal such minor wounds by having Zenki and Goki protect him and Sasuke.

Beneath his mask Haku watched astounded as Naruto proceeded to pull out the senbon that had been stuck in his body effortlessly. _'What is he?'_ Haku wondered.

Anna watched on as Naruto picked himself up, his legs just shaking the smallest bit as she recalled Zenki and Goki to her side with a mental command. She wouldn't admit it, or show any indication what so ever, but Anna had been concerned when she saw Naruto on the ground riddled with senbon. It was relieving to see him stand back up with a confident grin on his face again. The dark eyed girl was focused completely on Naruto and didn't even react to the sound of two people approaching her position.

"Hey didn't you hear me before?" Sakura's annoyed voice came from the side. "If you're going to stay here then stay close to me. I'll protect you."

Anna almost scoffed at Sakura's declaration. "Be quiet," Anna told the pinkette plainly without even looking at her.

"What?" Sakura said surprised before getting angry. "Hey what's your problem?! I'm just trying to keep you safe!"

"I seriously doubt you can keep anyone safe." Anna retorted, finally looking towards Sakura out of the corner of her eyes. "What exactly have you done on this mission? There is not a speck of dirt on your clothes or a scratch on you. So what exactly have you been doing to help? Because as far as I can see you've just been useless," The blonde girl stated.

"That's not true," Sakura refuted. "I've been guarding Tazuna all this time like we're supposed to." The green eyed girl said gesturing to the older man standing beside her.

"And how many times has he been attacked since you all got here" Anna asked already confident that she knew the answer. When Sakura failed to answer it just confirmed what she already knew. "Just like I thought, until you can actually backup what you say I suggest you just stay back and be quiet." Anna finished, shifting her attention back to Naruto in time to see him pull out a scroll from the pouch on his waist, leaving Sakura completely speechless.

Zabuza whistled lowly, having heard everything Anna said to Kakashi's female student. "Whoever that girl is, she is brutal." The Kiri-nin said sounding almost impressed.

"Who is she?" Kakashi wondered out loud. _'I've never seen or heard of her before but,'_ The Jounin continued mentally his gaze shifting from the blonde girl to his own blonde student. _'From the way they were interacting with each other they obviously know one another.'_ The Copy-nin concluded, before turning his attention back to Zabuza in preparation for their fight to continue. _'I'll just have to ask Naruto about her after this is all over.'_

Naruto did his best to hold back a chuckle as he heard Anna tear into Sakura. "Anna hasn't changed a bit." The whisker marked shinobi commented offhandedly.

"Not in the slightest." Amidamaru confirmed his tone a mix of found nostalgia and painful remembrance.

"If I'm going to avoid making things worse for myself I can't afford to hold back." Naruto declared unsealing a wooden sword from the scroll he had pulled out of his pouch.

"What the hell are you going to do with that?" Sasuke demanded, "It's completely useless. This isn't the time to be playing around!"

"Heh, just watch me teme." Naruto told his teammate. "You ready Amidamaru?" The blonde Jinchuuriki asked his partner.

"Always," Amidamaru replied his form bursting into translucent energy before reshaping into the shape of a small sphere with some of Amidamaru's features like his eyes, hair, and shoulder armor.

"Spirit Form!" Naruto called the small spirit ball that was Amidamaru held in his hand, "Unity!" He finished, pushing the sphere into his chest, as a new energy flooded his system, his orang jacket forcibly being opened by the energy. When Naruto eyes snapped open they were far sharper than they ever had been before.

Sasuke looked at Naruto bewildered. _'What's this new energy? It's like chakra but it's not at the same time. I can't get a good enough read on it.'_ The raven haired Uchiha wondered the little he could see of the energy that Naruto was releasing because of his Sharingan. _'It's not only that,'_ Sasuke continued. _'The dobe's posture is completely different from before.'_ He observed looking at Naruto intently. _'It's almost like he is a completely different person.'_

'_That's much better.'_ Naruto thought to himself. _'I've been suppressing my furyoku for a long time it's nice not having to anymore.'_ The shinobi finished.

Haku watched Naruto take a stance with the bokken, eyes closed. Experimentally throwing a single senbon at the blonde the black haired teen was happy to see that Naruto was forced to block it, as it meant that whatever was preventing him from attacking the two Gennin before no longer was protecting them.

'_I must hurry,'_ Haku thought. _'I'm almost out of chakra. I won't be able keep my jutsu active for much longer.'_ The fake Kiri Hunter-nin finished mentally and without another moment's hesitation he shot out of the ice mirror and into another one as the black haired teen began his attack.

"You better be ready for this dobe because here he comes." Sasuke said, his Sharingan working overtime to keep up with Haku's insane speed as he went from one mirror to another, and senbon started to rain down on them.

Naruto didn't react to Sasuke's statement or pay much attention to the approaching senbon.

"Focus, Naruto, steady' your breathing and clear your mind." Amidamaru advised his partner, his astral projection form appearing beside Naruto in the same stance.

Letting out a single steady breath Naruto and Amidamaru's opened their eyes at the same time and proceeded to knock every senbon heading their way out of the air, the bokken moving faster than anyone expected under their combined strength, chakra and furyoku being used in tandem to supplement the slashes. When Naruto blocked the last senbon he held the wooden sword to the side with a confident smirk on his face.

Haku and Sasuke stared at Naruto for a moment in stunned silence, Sasuke having survived the onslaught mostly thanks to his recently awakened Sharingan.

'_How is this possible?'_ Haku thought astonished. _'That level of skill with a sword, even a bokken, would take years of practice, years that Naruto should not have.'_ The black haired teen concluded apprehensively.

'_Excellent work Naruto.'_ Amidamaru said approvingly. _'I see that your skills have not diminished in the slightest in the last few years.'_

'_Yeah, well, Anna would have killed me if I let myself grow weaker.'_ Naruto replied with a chuckle, only half joking about what the blonde girl would do to him and Amidamaru really couldn't refute Naruto's claim. _'Now let's finish this.'_ Naruto decided taking the bokken in both hands and proceeded to channel furyoku into the wooden blade, "Celestial Slash!" With a single swing of his blade, in Naruto and Amidamaru's dual voices, the blonde shinobi released an arc of energy at the mirror that contained Haku.

Normally Haku would have stayed in one of his Demon Ice Mirrors confident that it would survive the hit, but his instincts were telling him to get out of the way, so the fake Hunter-nin sped out of the mirror he was standing in and into another one. Looking at the mirror her previously inhabited Haku was just in time to see it shatter into pieces the moment the energy wave hit it. Haku's mind was racing trying to figure out what he had just witnessed, how Naruto managed to perform a jutsu without hand seals, and know which mirror he was hiding in. Sasuke's fists were clenched tightly as he stared at the result of Naruto's attack before his eyes turned hatefully to Naruto.

'_How does the dobe have such power?'_ Sasuke thought, as he remembered his own failed attempt to destroy the ice mirrors. _'I need that power to kill Itachi, he doesn't!'_ The Uchiha seethed silently.

Naruto's eyes quickly scanned for Haku's new position. He wasn't a chakra sensor and Haku didn't possess any furyoku. The cerulean eyed shinobi wasn't even sure if you could track furyoku like you could chakra, so it was made harder to find the long black haired teen before he moved to a different ice mirror.

'_Our only choice will be to wait for him to attack us and counter before he can reenter one of his mirrors.'_ Amidamaru informed Naruto. Naruto let out a sigh; it wasn't like him to just wait around for the enemy to attack but didn't have much of a choice, so he reluctantly nodded his head in agreement.

Haku watched the two Gennin, waiting to see if either would perform another surprise move, but besides both of them trying to determine which of the images was really him, neither did anything else. With little choice, knowing he would have to cancel his jutsu soon to conserve chakra, Haku began his attack once more this time attacking Naruto from behind in the hope of taking him out quickly and by surprise.

Sasuke was the first one to spot Haku, his Sharingan granting the raven haired boy the ability to see the other dark haired male exit one of his ice mirrors and throw a few senbon at Naruto's unprotected back. With a burst of chakra enhanced speed Sasuke moved to deflect the senbon and intercept the masked teen. Out of the corner of his eye Naruto noticed Sasuke dash at something behind him. Correctly guessing the cause Naruto spun himself around, slashing upward and unleashing another Celestial Slash.

Haku wasn't expecting for Naruto to suddenly turn around and release another slash of red energy that slammed into him and sent him crashing through the ice mirror he just came out of. The hit, loss of concentration, and the low amount of chakra he had left all resulted in the remaining mirrors shattering after he impacted with the first ice mirror and bounced across the unfinished bridge before coming to a rolling stop.

'_Great job Amidamaru, I can take it from here.'_ Naruto thought to his Guardian Ghost before canceling the Spirit Unity causing Amidamaru to reform beside the blonde shinobi.

"Very well Naruto." Amidamaru replied pleased with how well his partner performed under Spirit Unity after such a long time.

On the sidelines Sasuke watched on with a scowl on his face as he watched the class dobe beat their opponent when he couldn't. _'How is he so strong? Where is Naruto getting such power from?!'_ The last loyal Uchiha raged in his own mind.

From where she stood Anna, though the mist obscured most of her view of the fight, knew what the end result was and was pleased with Naruto's victory over the ice user.

Naruto made his way towards the fallen Hunter-nin, as the masked shinobi slowly picked himself' off of the ground his mask cracked right down the middle. The whisker marked shinobi suddenly stopped though when Haku stood to his full height and his mask broke in two to reveal a face that Naruto recognized.

"You," Naruto muttered in disbelief.

Haku gave the shocked younger boy a sorrowful smile. "Why are you hesitating Naruto? I'm out of chakra you should finish me off while you have the chance." The black haired boy said regretfully.

"What?!" Naruto said thoroughly confused.

"I've failed Zabuza-sama." Haku stated sadly. "He has no need for a broken tool, so please kill me." The Hyouton user pleaded.

"Why would you go so far for a guy like Zabuza?!" Naruto demanded instead.

"Do you remember what I said about precious people, Naruto?" Haku questioned the blonde shinobi, as Naruto thought back to the first time he met the effeminate looking boy.

_Flashback_

After a very late night of intense training, _'Heh wouldn't Anna be proud,'_ Naruto thought momentarily, the blonde Jinchuuriki woke up to the sight of the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Suddenly a shiver that spoke of his imminent demise went down Naruto's back. As it turned out the girl's, at least he looked like a girl to Naruto, name was Haku and she was gathering herbs to help a friend recover quicker to which Naruto offered to help her with.

"So," Haku began after gathering all the necessary herbs. "Naruto do you have someone that you consider precious?" He asked the younger boy.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Naruto asked him back, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

Haku smiled at the whisker marked boy before going into an explanation. "I believe that one is only truly strong when they fight to protect something they consider precious." Haku told him. "Do you have someone precious that you want to protect?" He asked again.

Naruto thought over Haku's question, but it didn't take long before the images of different people started to appear in his mind, all he would consider precious, most prominent of those that appeared in his mind was Anna. "Yeah I do," Naruto eventually answered with a fox like grin on his face.

Haku nodded his head once. "Good, then you will definitely become stronger in the future." Haku said turning around and beginning to walk away only to stop after a few steps and look back at Naruto over his shoulder. "By the way I'm a boy." Haku stated clearly before leaving.

It took a while but eventually what Haku said registered in Naruto's mind.

"WHAT?!" Naruto's shout could be heard from miles around.

Far away a certain blonde itako felt vindicated, though she still planned to give the person she was searching for hell when they eventually met up.

_End Flashback_

Naruto nodded his head to indicate that he did remember.

"Zabuza-sama is the person I consider most precious to me." Haku informed the boy he saw so much of himself in.

"But why him?" Naruto enquired, still not seeing why Haku would go so far for Zabuza.

"Zabuza-sama saved me, not only my life but from my own loneliness as well. If not for him then I wouldn't be here." Haku said softly as he recalled his own past. "For the sake of the one who saved me and his dream I was willing to do anything."

With the battle between them over Anna had moved closer to get a clearer view of what was going on and had heard what Haku had just said. A wave of understanding washed over the normally indifferent girl, and by the look on Naruto's face and how he glanced over at her it seemed he noticed the similarities in Haku's reasons and how they met. _'He's…'_

"But," Haku continued, "I failed to do what Zabuza-sama asked me to do and defeat you and your teammate. My usefulness to Zabuza-sama has come to an end, I'm a broken tool. I no longer have a reason to continue living." The ice user finished sadly.

"What kind of bullshit is that?!" Naruto shouted angrily. "Don't you have your own dreams you want to fulfill! Why are you willing to throw away your life after a single loss?!"

"My dream is to help Zabuza-sama achieve his dream; I can no longer do that." Haku said in a resigned tone.

"But you aren't some tool for him to throw away." Naruto argued, "You can have your own dreams separate from Zabuza. Live your own life!"

"I'm sorry Naruto." Haku replied with a shake of his head. "But I've already decided to end things here. All I ask is for you to carry out my wish."

"Why the hell are we even arguing this?" Sasuke cut in, stepping in front of Naruto, as he pulled out a kunai. "He is an enemy if he wants to die then so be it!" Without a second thought the last loyal Uchiha threw the kunai aimed straight for Haku's heart.

Haku closed his eyes in silent acceptance only to snap them open a second later pull out a senbon and deflect the kunai at the last moment. "I'm sorry," Haku apologized, though who he was apologizing to and for what was a completely unclear. "But there is one final thing I must do for Zabuza-sama." He stated before forming an ice mirror with the little chakra he still possessed and stepping through it.

Naruto's mind raced as he tried to figure out where Haku had gone, his eyes widening when he came to one possible conclusion. "Damn it," Naruto muttered, clenching the bokken so tightly that it shook slightly in his strong grip. Turing in the direction that Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting Naruto took off channeling chakra into his legs to enhance his speed.

Kakashi's and Zabuza's fight was winding down to an end. Zabuza was being held in place by Kakashi's ninken, one arm rendered useless, while the Copy-nin held a ball of lightning in the palm of his hand.

"This is your end Zabuza." Kakashi said with a deadly seriousness.

Zabuza let out a mirthless chuckle. "You've said that once before, Kakashi." Zabuza pointed out, "Yet here I am."

"A mistake I'll be sure to correct right now." Kakashi replied, as he dashed at Zabuza and thrust his lighting covered fist at the former Kiri-nin, "Raikiri!"

Several things happened at once in the span of very little time. First an ice mirror appeared beside Zabuza, which Haku stepped out of to stand between Kakashi and Zabuza, as he threw a senbon needle through the scroll that summoned the ninken dispelling the jutsu. Next was Naruto's sudden appearance and releasing a Celestial Slash, unconsciously channeling chakra along with furyoku into the bokken, the arc of energy a dark violet instead of red. The Celestial Slash impacted with Kakashi's Raikiri draining it of most of its power and diverting it from its intended path so that it hit Haku on the right side of his chest instead of his heart.

Initially Kakashi was surprised by Haku's sudden appearance and Naruto's interference. He wondered what had possessed his student to act as he did, but could tell that by Naruto's intervention that the black haired teen would live instead of being fatally wounded, as it stood the fake Hunter-nin would still need medical attention soon or he would die of blood loss.

"Hm; seems you served one final purpose Haku." Zabuza said, unconcerned for his subordinate's condition, grabbing Kubikiribōchō with his single still working arm.

"I'm glad," Haku managed to murmur his eyes starting to glaze over.

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock as Zabuza swung his zanbato prepared to cut through Haku to get to him. Without much delay the gray haired ninja grabbed ahold of Haku and jumped away. When Kakashi landed a short distance away the Copy-nin had more than a hint of disgust in his eyes for the rogue Kiri-nin. _'To think he would go so far just to win this battle.'_ Kakashi thought silently to himself.

"Why did you do that?!" Naruto shouted at Zabuza incensed by the swordsman's actions. "Don't you care about Haku at all?"

"Please kid," Zabuza scoffed. "Haku is a tool to help me defeat my enemies. If he has to die so that can happen so be it, he knows what I expect of him." The wielder of Kubikiribōchō stated with a cold indifference.

"How can you say that?" Naruto muttered darkly. "You mean everything to Haku! He told me you saved his life as a kid. After all this time how can you think of him like some tool to be thrown away when it's no longer useful? Did everything you two went through mean absolutely nothing to you?!" The blonde shinobi demanded everyone's attention focused solely on him.

Anna watched Naruto intently a proud look in her eyes as she was once more reminded of one of the reasons she fell for the knuckleheaded, whisker marked, cerulean eyed boy, and made her confident in her decision for the future.

"That's just how things are in this world brat." Zabuza replied, though there was a slight strain in his voice that only Kakashi and Anna picked up on. "The sooner you accept this fact of life the better chance you have of surviving in this world."

"No," Naruto responded shaking his head. "I refuse to accept that. You saved him, trained him, took care of him, and became Haku's family. I just can't believe that you did all that and still only see him as a tool." The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki denied, staring directly at Zabuza with a fire in his eyes. "If this world is really like you said then I'll just have to change it."

"Do you really think a fresh out of the academy Gennin could accomplish something like changing the world?" Zabuza said incredulously. "How would you do it?"

"Someday, someday I'm going to be Hokage!" Naruto answered instantly and with a steely determination. "When that day comes I'll be strong enough to change things." The shinobi said surely. Though becoming Hokage wouldn't be the only factor in the future that would allow Naruto to make a difference in the world.

Zabuza looked at Naruto unsure if the kid was being serious, while the brat had shown some surprising moves he didn't look like he had what was needed to become a Kage.

"As inspiring as this all is." Anna said, cutting in. "We have unwanted company." She said looking toward the unfinished side of the bridge.

All the shinobi, and Tazuna, turned their heads in the direction that Anna was looking to see that the mist had cleared enough to reveal Gato with a bunch of mercenaries standing behind him.

"Gato," Zabuza said disdainfully, eyeing the mercenaries carefully.

Gato a short man in a business suit had a sneer on his face as he spoke to Zabuza. "Some demon, I send you to kill one old man and you are all but beaten by a bunch of kids and their sensei. Heh, you're more like a baby demon." Gato said arrogantly sure that the mercenaries standing behind him were enough to keep him safe.

Zabuza nearly snarled at the short business mogul's insult. "Explain yourself Gato, what are you doing here?" The rogue Mist-nin ordered.

While Gato went on about his reasons for him betraying Zabuza, Kakashi was looking down at the raven haired boy in his arms and assessing his injury and treating it to the best of his ability. _'There that should do it.'_ Kakashi thought managing to momentarily stop the bleeding. _'He'll need to be properly treated later, but at least for now he won't bleed to death.'_ The Jounin finished contemplating with a sigh of relief.

Gato noticed Kakashi out of the corner of his eye after he got done talking to Zabuza. "So that little shit is still alive, huh?" Gato asked rhetorically a smirk plastered on his face. "Good I owe him for breaking my arm. I'm sure breaking his arms and legs before killing him will make us even."

Zabuza directed a large amount of killing intent at the midget business man for his threat. "Looks like we no longer have a reason to fight Kakashi." He stated factually.

"Looks that way," Kakashi said in agreement, as he stared down the mercenaries.

"Alright boys," Gato started banging his cane against the ground to draw attention to himself. "Kill all of them, and as a reward you can have the girls to do with as you please." He said much to the mercenaries cheering.

"Not going to happen." Naruto muttered angrily, dropping his bokken, and pulling out a kunai. In order to protect Anna, Naruto was prepared to kill whoever threatened her. Sakura too he guessed.

"Listen brat Gato's mine, you got that?" Zabuza told the blonde shinobi making sure he understood it wasn't up for debate, as he grabbed his zanbato with his one good hand.

"Fine with me," Naruto replied indifferently, though he wished he could get his own hands on Gato for what he did to the Land of Waves.

"Naruto," Anna called to the blonde Jinchuuriki, causing him to perk up and look at her. "I expect you to defeat at least 25 of those thugs or I'll triple your training." The blonde itako said absolutely.

Naruto noticeably paled and broke into a cold sweat. Not even bothering to say anything back to Anna, the whisker marked shinobi focused his attention completely on the mercenaries across from him, as he formed a single hand sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled loudly, as in puffs of smoke ten Kage Bunshin were created. "You heard her." The cerulean eyed teen said to his clones each of them with a couple of kunai in hand.

Kakashi let a sigh, "Guess I don't have a choice but to join in too." He said in his customary lazy tone, as he created his own group of Kage Bunshin.

Refusing to wait another second Zabuza dashed at Gato Kubikiribōchō slung across his back.

Gato's eyes grew wide and fearful as he watched Zabuza quickly get closer, his image being overshadowed by that of a demon. "Ah! Stop him don't let him get any closer!" The businessman yelled in a panic, as he tried to put as many mercenaries between him and Zabuza as possible. The mercenaries tried to follow their employer's order but found their way impeded by a group of blonde and gray haired shinobi.

"Where the hell do you think you're going Gato?!" Zabuza shouted after cutting some mercenary that had got in his way across his chest.

"No, stay away!" Gato exclaimed fearfully, seeing that everyone who got too close to Zabuza had been quickly dispatched he resorted to begging. "Please spare me! I'll triple what I was going to pay you!" He pleaded as he reached the end of the bridge.

"To late Gato," Zabuza replied. "Die!" the rogue Kiri-nin said swinging Kubikiribōchō and decapitating Gato, his head landing on top of his neck. "You never should have crossed me." He stated with finality before kicking the corpse off of the bridge, the head rolling off after it, and then made his way through the crowd of mercenaries. Not one of them was even trying to stop him.

Everything was quiet for a moment, except for the sound of Sakura throwing up from the gruesome sight of Gato's death, before shouts of anger started to rise from the surviving mercenaries.

"Hey you just killed our meal ticket!"

"What are we going to do now?!"

"We'll just have to take our fill from the village."

"Let's go!"

Just as they all were about to make their way towards the village a single arrow came out of the mist and struck itself right in front of the mercenaries. Looking towards where the arrow came from they were surprised to see all the villagers of Wave armed to the teeth with whatever they could use as a weapon, and at the front stood Inari with a crossbow in hand.

"If you want to get to the village," Inari started. "You'll have to get through us first." He stated, the villagers loudly voicing their agreement behind him.

"Inari," Tazuna murmured in amazement at seeing his grandson, daughter, and every person in the Land of Waves ready to defend their home.

"Well it's about time." The original Naruto said, much more lighthearted then before.

"Heh, don't you know that the hero usually arrives at the last second." Inari replied with a large grin, repeating Naruto's words from earlier.

"Don't forget about us." Kakashi said standing by his Kage Bunshin. Sasuke though injured, low on chakra, and a little tired was prepared to join in. "And I'm sure that Zabuza won't mind joining in." The Jounin said casually. Naruto and his clones ready to continue as well.

"I could work off some steam." Zabuza said a blood thirsty look in his eyes that spoke of the oncoming slaughter.

The surviving mercenaries froze in place, they were now completely outnumbered their own group dead, heavily injured, or unconscious. Having to face the shinobi and an entire village would most likely result in their deaths, so they did the smart thing for once in their lives and ran for it making their way toward the boat at the end of the bridge that had originally brought them. Some of them preferring to jump off the bridge rather than wait. Seeing the mercenaries retreating caused the villagers to erupt in a cheer celebrating the fact that they were finally free of Gato's tyranny. While the villagers were celebrating the shinobi gathered near Haku's injured form, Zabuza taking a close look at the black haired teen's injuries.

"Kakashi-sensei what do we do now?" Sakura asked, looking at Zabuza warily.

"Are you stupid or something?" Anna asked walking up to the group, stopping beside Naruto. "Don't answer that I already know the answer. With Gato dead there is no reason for Zabuza to be after the old drunk anymore." She said as if it were obvious.

"She's right Sakura our battle with Zabuza is over." Kakashi said pacifyingly in order to calm his most short tempered student, before turning a curious eye to the two blondes. "Though that leaves the question of who' you are Miss. Naruto, you seem to know her mind telling us who your friend is?" He finished by questioning his student.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in nervous embarrassment. "Uh, this is Anna Kyoyama and-" Naruto began.

"-And I'm not his friend. I'm his wife." Anna stated cutting in and causing Naruto to face palm at how she just came out and said that.

"WHAT?! HIS WIFE!" They all shouted at once, even Zabuza stopped looking at Haku over as he looked at the two blondes in surprise. With a shinobi's life span it wasn't unheard of for them to get married at a young age, but twelve seemed like an extreme even for them.

"Well I will be, eventually." Anna amended. "After Naruto keeps the promise he made to me." The blonde girl finished, giving Naruto a meaningful look that all but said that he would be keeping his promise.

Naruto let out a mental sigh while thinking that Shikamaru was right and girls were troublesome, all the while knowing that if he said it out loud Anna would make his life hell. Now he would have to figure out a way to explain what Anna meant without revealing the existence of spirits, the tournament, or the fact that he was the first ninja to become a shaman, a person who could communicate with spirits and fight alongside them.

Anna narrowed her eyes at Naruto. "I can still read your mind." Anna said quietly so none of the others could hear her.

"Sorry!" Naruto apologized immediately though he knew that it would be useless to apologize at this point and that Anna was going to make him suffer through her training regimen no matter what.

Though Kakashi and Zabuza didn't know what exactly Naruto was apologizing for they recognized the look Anna was giving Naruto as the one all women gave their boyfriend/fiancé/husband when they were in the doghouse and couldn't help but start praying for the kid.

* * *

The next day Haku eyes opened groggily as he woke up in a room he didn't recognize. Sitting up in the bed he found himself in Haku grimaced in pain as his hand instinctively went to his right shoulder from the pain he felt from there.

"Easy Haku, don't push yourself." Zabuza's gruff voice said from off to the side. "If you move around too much you're going to end up opening your wounds." He warned.

Despite Zabuza's warning Haku's head instantly snapped toward the source of the voice to see his master leaning against the wall by a window, with Kubikiribōchō resting beside him. Besides a few bandages, more than the ones Zabuza usually wore to cover the lower part of his face, and the fact that he hand his arm in a sling he looked relatively unharmed. "Zabuza-sama what happened? Where are we?" Haku asked, as he tried to stand only for Zabuza to make him lie back down.

"We're in the old bridge builder's home." Zabuza started to explain.

"But-" Haku started to say only for Zabuza to stop him.

"Gato double crossed us, he showed up at the bridge with a small army of mercenaries shortly after you passed out." The rogue Kiri-nin informed him. "With our contract terminated I teamed up with Kakashi and his students to deal with Gato."

Haku nodded his head in understanding, but there was something that he still needed to know. "Zabuza-sama, how am I…" The black haired teen trailed off at the end, unable to finish his question.

Though left unfinished Zabuza knew what Haku was going to ask. "You have the blonde brat to thank for that. Whatever that jutsu he used was it took the brunt of Kakashi's attack and redirected it towards your shoulder." Zabuza informed him, while gesturing to his wounded shoulder.

"Naruto," Haku mumbled, a bit surprised that he owed the younger boy his life, especially considering he had asked him to take it earlier.

"Yeah him," Zabuza said with a far off look appearing in his eyes at the blue eyed boy's name before he pushed off the wall. "I'll bring you some food in a second." The rogue Jounin told him. "Later Kakashi and I will be raiding Gato's compound, his students will be staying behind to look after the bridge builder, be sure to get plenty of rest." He finished.

"Understood Zabuza-sama," Haku replied.

...

Outside Anna was proving to be a true slave driver when it came to training, as Naruto knew very well and was unable to do anything about it. Not even complain in his' own head!

"Come on Naruto after this you still have to do 300 squats and a 30 mile run around the island." Anna told her blonde fiancé, as she watched him do pushups from under the shade of a nearby tree.

"254…255…256… This is insane!" Naruto said between gasps.

"Quit complaining." Anna replied indifferently. "I told you I would triple your training if you failed to defeat at least 25 of those thugs."

"But I beat like 34 of them." Naruto replied without stopping or losing count of the pushups he was doing. If he lost count then Anna would make him start all over.

"Wrong your clones beat 34, you only managed to defeat 17 of them." Anna shot back. "Now speed it up before I decide to add another 100." Hearing Anna's threat instantly caused Naruto to speed up.

A few minutes later Naruto was lying on the ground completely exhausted after getting done performing his last pushup.

"Alright you can rest for 5 minutes before you get back to training." Anna said, cutting the blonde shaman a small break.

Sasuke and Sakura had also been watching their teammate train and now that he was resting the pink haired kunoichi tentatively approached the blonde. Something Anna immediately took note of and watched carefully, she never liked the color pink especially when it was a girl's hair color. "Hey, Naruto, is that girl really your girlfriend?" She asked him. It was the question at the forefront of her mind since she just couldn't see anyone wanting to actually date the blonde shinobi. "I mean she sure doesn't act like it. This training she is putting you through alone is ridiculous."

"Anna's not my girlfriend." Naruto said already recovering, one of the few benefits of being a Jinchuuriki. "She's my fiancée." He corrected her obviously. Old man Hokage made sure he understood there was a big difference between a girlfriend and a fiancé when he was younger.

"Yeah about that," Sakura continued, not at all appeased by Naruto's answer. "Why is she your fiancée you didn't explain that?"

"It's complicated." Naruto replied uneasily avoiding direct eye contact with the green eyed girl.

"You said that yesterday." Sakura persisted. "But if an idiot' like you thinks it's complicated then it's probably not."

Anna glared at the pinkette for the insult toward her fiancé. Sure she knew that Naruto wasn't some genius prodigy, but only she was allowed to insult him. Naruto was also growing frustrated with the Sakura's pestering.

"To put it simply," Naruto said, a bit of an edge in his voice. "After saving her I promised after I won something I would marry her." The blonde shinobi finally told her.

Sakura noted the change in Naruto's tone and wisely decided not to push it, but there was one final thing she wanted to ask. "Ok, but if you had a fiancé then why did you ask me out on all those dates all of the time?" Sakura questioned him. "I never figured you as the kind of guy who would cheat on his fiancé." She told him bluntly.

Everything suddenly became deathly silent and Naruto began to noticeably sweat, sweat that had nothing to do with the training he was doing before and shake fearfully.

"Naruto, sweetie, what is she talking about?" Anna asked moving towards them, a false politeness in his voice.

Naruto shook his hands wildly. "It's a misunderstanding!" Naruto said desperately. "I asked Sakura to get ramen with me, so we could hang out as teammates. I never said it was a date. I would invite Sasuke a couple of times as well." He told her honestly hoping that Anna would believe him. Now that Sakura thought about it, as she slowly backed away, Naruto never even mentioned the word date when he asked, it was just something she automatically assumed whenever he asked.

Anna stared Naruto down with narrowed eyes. She knew he was telling the truth, but she had to make it absolutely clear she would make him suffer a painful death if he even thought about cheating on her. "Alright breaks over slacker get back to work." Anna ordered him.

"What?! But it hasn't been 5 minutes yet." Naruto complained.

"Stop whining you have a 40 mile run waiting for you before doing 450 squats." Anna told him coldly.

"Why do I suddenly have to run more miles and squats than before?!" Naruto asked loudly.

"Do you want me to make it more?" Anna asked him back.

Naruto didn't even think about it for a second before he was up and already running. "No Anna!" The blonde shinobi replied.

"Good," Anna muttered as she walked back into the house, already planning to send some ghosts to keep an eye on her blue eyed fiancé to make sure he didn't slack off. "Which reminds me," The blonde girl said out loud. "I expect you to go with him Amidamaru." She said looking to her right at empty face before Amidamaru appeared right where she was looking.

"Of course Anna," Amidamaru answered before disappearing once more to follow after his shaman, not wanting to incur the blonde itako's wrath.

* * *

A few days later saw the bridge completed and everyone saying their goodbyes to the people of Wave.

"Thank you everyone," Tazuna said to the group of Konoha shinobi, Anna, Haku, and Zabuza, though the last three the bridge builder was a little skittish around. Zabuza and Haku for obvious reasons and Anna for different reasons entirely, "Without you this bridge would never have been finished and we would have never been freed of Gato."

"No thanks necessary Tazuna, we were simply carrying out our mission." Kakashi said casually while waving his hand back and forth lazily. "We will bill you for the upgrade in the mission later." He finished.

"Right," Tazuna replied awkwardly.

"Tazuna," Anna said stepping forward.

"Yes, Miss Anna?" Tazuna replied, standing at attention a bit at the sound of the dark eyed girl's voice. Over the last few days the old drunk had learned what tended to happen to those who crossed her.

"I want to know if you do renovations and restorations." Anna enquired.

"Well it is not my specialty but I can do it." Tazuna answered, even if he had never done it before Tazuna was prepared to learn, and fast, if it meant not displeasing the blonde girl.

"Good there is something I will need restored and renovated back in Konoha." Anna informed the man. "You can have a few days to settle things here before I see you in Konoha." The way she said it left no room for argument.

"Right," Tazuna agreed hurriedly.

While Anna and Tazuna were talking Naruto and Inari were saying their respective goodbyes, the little black haired boy doing his best not to cry, "Come on Inari what's with the tears?" Naruto asked softly.

"I-I can't help it." Inari replied, losing his fight to hold back his tears. "Great now you're going to make fun of me and call me a cry baby." He said trying to wipe away his tears.

"What are you talking about," Naruto said, putting a hand on top of Inari's head and rubbing his head messing with his hair. "It's okay to cry every once in a while, especially when your happy, as long as it's not the only thing you do." He told the younger boy with a grin.

"Really?" Inari asked looking up at Naruto through tear filled eyes.

"Yeah," Naruto responded reassuringly. At that point Kakashi said that they were heading out. "Well goodbye Inari, take care of your mom and grandpa." The blonde shinobi said, moving beside Anna as they all started to leave.

"Bye Naruto remember to visit us!" Inari shouted to the whisker marked shaman's retreating form.

"You bet!" Naruto called back, waving his hand over his shoulder. "You can try visiting too when your grandpa is in Konoha."

As they watched the shinobi and Anna leave one citizen of Wave brought up one important fact.

"Hey we still have to name the bridge." A villager voiced.

"That's right," Tazuna said in realization, as he gained a thoughtful look on his face as he stared at one shinobi in particular, "How about the Great Naruto Bridge?" The old man suggested, "In honor of the shinobi that gave Inari back his courage and who in turn gave us all the courage to make this day possible, and proved that there are such things as heroes." _'Not to mention anyone who can handle that girl is simply amazing.'_ Tazuna thought with a shiver.

Tazuna's suggestion was meet a unanimous cheer from the crowd and it was agreed that, that was an excellent name.

...

After crossing the bridge and walking for half an hour Zabuza called everyone to a stop.

"This is where we go our separate ways." Zabuza informed the group, much to Sakura's relief.

"If you don't mind my asking what will you do' now?" Kakashi asked his fellow masked ninja.

"I've been thinking of going back to Kiri and joining up with the resistance group." Zabuza answered him uncaringly. Though afraid of returning back to the Land of Water, and sad to be saying goodbye to the friend he made in Naruto over the course of the last few days, Haku informed his master that he was ready to follow him anywhere. "You're not coming with me Haku." Zabuza told the ice user.

"What?" Haku asked confused.

"It took me a while, but I've finally realized what the blonde brat said was true." Zabuza stated, ignoring Naruto's shout of indignation at being called a brat. "All this time I wasn't training you to be a tool. I trained you to be my successor." The Mist Jounin said seriously causing Haku's eyes to widen in shock. "I want to pass Kubikiribōchō to you when you've become strong enough, but that is never going to happen if all you do is follow me around, so this is where we part ways as well. Go with Kakashi to Konoha, since you were never officially a ninja for Kirigakure you should have no problem joining their ranks. Grow strong Haku because the next time we meet we'll see if you're deserving of my sword and I won't be holding back when that day comes." Zabuza told his apprentice.

"I, I understand Zabuza-sama." Haku said the sadness of being separated from his father-figure clearly evident in his voice.

Zabuza turned his attention away from his student to look at Naruto. "Naruto," Zabuza started once more, using Naruto's name for the first time. "I don't know if you will be able to keep your word to change this world, but I'm looking forward to seeing what you accomplish." He finished before turning around and jumping into the trees disappearing from the line of sight almost immediately.

"We should continue making our way to Konoha." Haku said after a moment of silence, the others agree and hurrying back to the Leaf Village, Naruto unexpectedly picking Anna up and carrying her on his back to speed up the process.

* * *

**AN: That is the end of this chapter I hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter and will also enjoy the next chapter. This fic will follow both Naruto and Shaman King as close as possible while I change things to make the story as original as possible, the fact that Anna has Zenki and Goki from the start should make that obvious. I have a few other things planned, but will be keeping that a surprise.**

**(1) Don't know why I decided to change her clothes, considering that her black dress wouldn't be all that strange, just felt like it. I might have her wear the black dress on occasion, but for the most part the black kimono will be her normal clothes. If this isn't acceptable then just imagine her in her dress it won't affect the story in the slightest.**

**Till next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Alright chapter 2 of this is done. I had been hoping to get this done last week, but the ending was harder for to write up and it ended taking a whole week before I was finished. Now with this done I'll be returning to writing some of my other fics, but in the mean time I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Shaman King**

* * *

Chapter 2

"Talking"  
_'Thinking'  
_**(Author's Note)**

"Miss Anna it has been a while." The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, said nervously. At first the veteran Hokage was surprised by the two additions to Team 7, but after recognizing who the blonde girl was he grew noticeably jumpy. Not that Team 7 and Haku didn't understand, the looks alone that the girl would give people when they were making her angry would be enough to unnerve even the most battle hardened shinobi. "I trust you are well?" He asked, taking careful note of the hand print on his surrogate grandson's cheek. Apparently Anna didn't enjoy Naruto suddenly picking her up and carrying her off at high speeds; she was smart enough though to wait until they reached the village's gates before delivering Naruto's punishment.

"I'm well Hokage-sama." Anna answered the man politely. "I finished my training so I decided to come and keep an eye on Naruto." She explained detachedly. "With the condition I found him on his mission it's clear that he has been neglecting his training." Anna finished sounding displeased.

"I see," The Hokage said, feeling sorry for his surrogate grandson for what was sure to happen to him in the future. "Well it is nice to see you once more." Sarutobi said as honestly as possible. "And who might you be?" He asked after he turned his attention to Haku. Hiruzen then got a brief explanation of who Haku was, what happened on their mission to the Land of Waves, and Haku's wish to join Konohagakure. "I see," The Hokage said once more, taking a drag from his pipe, which he had pulled out at some point during the small debrief. "There is no problem with you joining Konoha's ranks as long as you understand that you'll be instated as a Gennin and some Anbu will follow you for an undetermined amount of time to ensure this isn't some sort of ploy."

"I understand and accept your conditions Hokage-sama." Haku answered, giving the aged leader a slight bow.

"Very well, then welcome Haku to Konohagakure no Sato." Sarutobi said tossing the black haired youth a headband belonging to the Leaf Village. "I think it would be best to assign you to Team 7, so that only leaves where you'll be staying to be decided."

"He can stay with me." Naruto immediately offered.

"I'm not so sure that's such a good idea Naruto. Your apartment wasn't meant for three people. That is assuming of course that Miss Anna would be staying with you." Sarutobi said, looking at said girl questioningly, as Naruto rubbed the back of his head for his oversight.

"Of course," Anna said obviously. "But it's fine we won't be staying there much longer. The Asakura's gave us one of the properties they own within the village and we'll be moving there soon." The blonde itako informed the Hokage.

Hiruzen nodded his head in acceptance, though Kakashi once more found himself' curious about how Naruto met Anna, became her fiancée, and who the Asakura were. "Good then that solves all our current issues, Team 7 you are dismissed; return home and rest up Kakashi can give the mission report." Sarutobi said dismissing the Gennin and Anna. Sasuke and Sakura immediately left after being dismissed, but Naruto and Haku stayed behind as Anna seemed to have something else to talk about with the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama before I go I have a mission request from for tomorrow." Anna said, pulling out the form and handing it to Sarutobi with all the details of the mission on it.

Looking it over quickly Sarutobi accepted it and informed the itako that it would be carried out the next day. With everyone else gone Sarutobi did a few quick hand seals to dismiss his personal Anbu guards and activate a silencing seal in the room, giving him and the Jounin sensei some privacy. "Is there something you wish to discuss Kakashi?" The Sandaime asked having noticed the questioning looks the Jounin had been giving Naruto and Anna earlier.

"Hokage-sama I'd like to know how Naruto met Anna, became engaged to her, and how he is involved with this Asakura clan. There was nothing about either of them on the info sheet about Naruto that I received when he became my student." Kakashi said, "I've also caught Naruto talking to someone he calls Amidamaru, who also seems to talk back to him, and I am worried that it's the Kyuubi influencing him." The gray haired Jounin finished bringing all his concerns forward.

Sarutobi took another drag from his pipe before letting it out and focusing his steely gaze on Kakashi. "Kakashi what I am about to tell you is an S-rank secret that is shared by the Kages of the 5 Great Shinobi Villages and those they put their upmost trust in. You are not to repeat what I tell you to anyone." The Hokage finished seriously.

"Understood Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied simply.

Sarutobi took a moment to collect his thoughts before he began. "Since before the formation of the shinobi villages there has existed a society alongside ours. This society consists of people who can communicate with the spirit world without the use of a jutsu of any kind." The Sandaime revealed.

To say Kakashi was shocked by the revelation was an understatement. He actually dropped his Icha Icha from the surprise he felt, "Wha-?" Kakashi started only to stop mid-sentence.

Hiruzen almost chuckled at Kakashi's stupor, sure that if it wasn't for his mask he would have a comical look on his face, but refrained to continue with his explanation. "A majority of these people are known as Shaman." Pausing to take a drag from his pipe Sarutobi continued. "And there existence is a vital part of the continual life of all those in this world." Sarutobi stated.

Kakashi was able to gather his wits enough to ask the aged Hokage a question. "What do you mean by that Hokage-sama?" The gray haired Jounin asked.

"Every 500 years a tournament is held for every shaman worldwide to decide who shall become 'Shaman King' merge with the King of Spirits and decide the fate of the world until the next tournament." Sarutobi answered with what little he knew about the tournament.

Kakashi found the information fascinating but saw one problem with what he was learning, "What does any of this have to do with Naruto?" Kakashi questioned curiously before his eyes widened in realization. "Wait, you don't mean…"

The Sandaime nodded his head. "Yes, Naruto is also a shaman. More precisely he is the first shinobi to also be a shaman." Sarutobi stated with a bit of pride entering his voice.

"How is that possible? Surely there had to have been at least one person who was a shinobi and a shaman before Naruto." Kakashi replied in some mild confusion.

"There has not," Sarutobi said back absolutely before getting back to his explanation. "For a human being to be a shaman, or any of the other professions that allows one to interact with the spirit world, they must have a high amount of spirit energy. As shinobi we have learned to harness and expand or physical and spiritual energies until adulthood and we continue to instinctually keep the two balanced with one another making it so a shinobi who is also a shaman impossible, until Naruto."**(1)** The old man explained.

"Then what makes Naruto the exception?" Kakashi asked not quite being able to wrap his head around what was being said. "Does it have something to do with the Kyuubi being sealed inside him?"

"Yes," Sarutobi answered nodding his head. "But not how you would expect." He said, taking one final drag from his pipe before setting it down. "Minato did something completely unheard of when he split the Kyuubi's chakra and sealed the yang half within Naruto and the yin half of Kyuubi's chakra within himself. With this being the first time that such an occurrence has ever happened the consequences of such actions were completely unknown. Now we have some idea of what those consequences are. Yang chakra is the physical half of chakra and with only half of it sealed within Naruto it created an imbalance, but instead of affecting Naruto's yang chakra like it would be expected it affected his yin half." Here Sarutobi paused for a moment to ensure Kakashi was following along, and seeing that he was, the old man continued. "In order to correct the imbalance within Naruto's body due to the excess of Kyuubi's yang chakra Naruto's own yin chakra developed to match it, probably a result of his Uzumaki heritage, but the seal still restrains Kyuubi's yang chakra for the most part keeping the influence in Naruto minimal. The result of the imbalance was Naruto's normal yang chakra and his exceptionally large yin chakra that made it possible for Naruto to purely harness his spiritual energy allowing for his title as the first shinobi shaman**(2).** Though as a result it seems that Naruto's chakra control suffers and makes genjutsu nearly impossible for him until he either masters Kyuubi's chakra, or his own yang chakra matches his yin chakra." Sarutobi finished.

"That's, that's a lot to take in." Kakashi said. Admittedly he had never considered how his sensei's actions of splitting Kyuubi's chakra might eventually affect Naruto. "Who would have ever guessed that Naruto would become a shaman of all things?" He mused off handedly.

Hiruzen chuckled a bit at Kakashi's words. "I know what you mean Kakashi. I still remember the little boy who used to be afraid of ghosts." Sarutobi said in fond remembrance. "It was only Naruto's insistence that he could see ghosts and my knowledge of shamans that eventually had me seek the aid of the Asakura clan." The Sandaime admitted.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the mention of the Asakura family again, as he remembered his other questions to the Hokage. "Who are they and how is Naruto connected to them, and his meeting and engagement to Anna?" Kakashi asked once more.

Sarutobi hummed thoughtfully before answering. "The Asakura clan is a very old family of Shaman with many ties to the spirit side of the world. And as to Naruto's connection to them, he was adopted into the clan when his potential as a shaman became apparent to them after an incident and they made him the heir to the clan." Hiruzen supplied. "Legally Naruto's full name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze Asakura. Quite the mouth full don't you think." Sarutobi ended jokingly.

"They made Naruto their heir, why?" Kakashi asked confused. While happy that the blonde Jinchuuriki was able to obtain a family he found it odd that they would up and make him their heir, especially if they were as old as they sounded as such families usually had traditions against such things as they wanted to ensure the heir was from the bloodline.

"I was surprised by their choice at first as well." Sarutobi admitted. "Eventually I was told that the true heir of the family died during birth due to some complications, which they refused to disclose to me, and as a result Keiko Asakura the only daughter to the head of the clan was unable to have another child**(3)**. The head of the family explained that they were in desperate need of an heir for the upcoming Shaman Tournament and with Naruto being able to harness chakra and furyoku, the shaman term for spirit energy, he had much potential and could eventually win the tournament, with the proper training." The Sandaime paused for a moment to take a breather before continuing. "What led to Naruto being engaged to Anna is quite the interesting story and also involves his first meeting with the Asakura' clan." Hiruzen said as he gained a distant look in his eye and proceeded to tell the story.

_Flashback_

"Hey old man, are we there yet?" A six year old Naruto asked the Sandaime for the umpteenth time.

"Almost Naruto," Sarutobi replied walking a bit ahead of the blonde child. The Sandaime and his surrogate grandson were currently walking through one of the Land of Fire's many forests a few days travel from Konoha, leaving behind his advisors to take care of the day to day operations of the village. People can say whatever they want about Koharu and Homura, but there was one thing that the Sandaime knew about his former teammates, and that was that they would do whatever they could to protect the village. Even if they didn't always agree with the choices made, as long as it didn't compromise the beliefs and ideals of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage.

It was that reason alone that had Koharu and Homura voting against Danzo, Sarutobi's old rival and the founder of Root, when it came to the subject of handing Naruto to the old war hawk for training.

The reason for their impromptu trip was something that Naruto had brought to the Sandaime countless times. The face that he, Naruto Uzumaki, claimed he could see ghosts. At first Hiruzen assumed that it was Naruto's imagination that caused the blonde to make such claims, but it was only Naruto's insistence that he could really see ghosts and Sarutobi's knowledge of the spirit world that raised his suspicion enough to make this trip necessary. A few minutes later they finally reached a traditional looking mansion and at the front of the gates stood a short man with puffy hair, whose head was completely bald on top, and was wearing traditional Japanese looking clothing.

"Hiruzen, this is a surprise. What brings the Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato all the way out here?" The short balding man inquired, not looking all that surprised.

"Yohmei, how did you know to expect us?" Sarutobi asked him instead identifying the man in the process.

"My shikigami kooni alerted me to your presence some time ago." Yohmei replied.

"Truly a useful ability," Sarutobi commented, staring at a pair of floating leafs that were drifting by. To most they would just be regular looking leafs, but Sarutobi knew that was not the case for shaman.

Yohmei smirked at Sarutobi's comment, most would have just written off his shikigami kooni as useless. "Well there is no point in all of us freezing ourselves standing out here." Yohmei said turning around and opening the gate to his home. "Come on in, after we get comfortable you can tell me what you and the child are doing here." He finished.

At that point Sarutobi realized that Naruto had been far too quiet the last few minutes. Looking behind him to where Naruto was standing Sarutobi was surprised to find Naruto lying on the ground. Apparently the sight of Yohmei's shikigami kooni was enough to cause the young blonde child to faint. Chuckling slightly Hiruzen picked up his charge and followed after Yohmei.

Yohmei lead Sarutobi to a large traditional sitting room with a few candles lighting the room. The two old men sat down, Sarutobi lying Naruto down beside him, before starting their conversation.

"Yohmei it is good to see you again my old friend." Sarutobi said greeting the old man.

"You as well Hiruzen," Yohmei said back. "It has been far too long since the last time we got together for a drink." The short man continued, "But I doubt this is a social visit, so what brings you to the Asakura home today Hiruzen?"

Sarutobi gestured towards Naruto's passed out form. "This is Naruto Uzumaki." Sarutobi began by introducing Naruto "There is something he brought to my attention that you might find very interesting, can you tell what it is Yohmei" Hiruzen asked his friend challengingly.

The Head of the Asakura clan didn't even take a second before answering. "He has an amazing amount of furyoku within him from what I can tell, especially for someone his age." Yohmei stated, his eyes shifting from Naruto to the Sandaime. "It is truly remarkable how much of it he possess, but it is uncontrolled. Was that what you thought I'd find interesting Hiruzen, a boy with the potential to become a shaman?" Yohmei questioned his old friend with a bit of skepticism. Sure his raw power was astounding, but hardly something for Sarutobi to go out of his way to bring to his attention.

"In part," Sarutobi replied. "But you also just helped me confirm something." Sarutobi continued a smile appearing on his face. "You might not be able tell Yohmei, like I could not tell for certain that Naruto truly possessed furyoku, but Naruto can also harness the power of chakra. With your confirmation Naruto has the potential to become a powerful shinobi and shaman, the first shinobi shaman."

Yohmei was surprised by what Sarutobi claimed. Never in all recorded history has there ever been a person who could become a shaman and a shinobi. It was a feat tried by both groups of people in the past and none had ever managed. A shinobi, the few who knew the truth, hand never been able and if a shaman tried either nothing happened or they would lose their shaman abilities for the sake of possessing chakra.

At that moment Naruto began to stir drawing both the old men's attention to him. "What happened?" Naruto muttered drowsily before looking around, his eyes eventually resting on Yohmei. "Who is the short old guy with the weird hair style?" The blonde child asked loudly.

A tick marked appeared on Yohmei's mostly bald head. "Watch your mouth brat, show your elders some respect! I am Yohmei Asakura leader of the Asakura clan!" Yohmei proudly declared.

"Whatever. I'm Naruto Uzumaki the next Hokage! Believe it!" Naruto said back introducing himself, even though Sarutobi had done so earlier but he didn't know that.

"A loud mouthed brat like you Hokage, don't make me laugh." Yohmei retorted, though he wasn't being cruel like some of the villagers back in Konoha would when they heard of Naruto's dream. He was just mocking the boy lightly in good fun.

Thwack "Ow!"

"That's enough Yohmei; between the two of you it is hard to tell who is the child' and who is the grown man." An old woman with grey hair pulled back into a bun with a couple of bangs falling on either side of her face. She wore traditional clothing, with black round glasses on her face, and was carrying a cane, which she had just used to hit Yohmei in the face with. She stood about the same height as Yohmei, who was currently on the ground nursing his face.

"Ah, who's the old hag?" Naruto asked pointing at the woman, not having noticed when she entered the room.

Thwack "Ow!"

Like Yohmei Naruto found himself on the ground, right beside the man, nursing his own face after the women hit him in the face with her cane. Sarutobi wasn't sure if he should laugh or be afraid of winding up in the same state as the other two males in the room. The woman's name was Kino Asakura, Yohmei's wife, and she was a blind itako. Not that it seemed to matter as she always seemed to know where everything and everyone was even with the inability to see. She was a very frightening woman.

"I am Kino Asakura, you don't have to respect my husband, but you will show me proper respect at all times. Is that understood?" Kino finished by banging her cane against the ground, which somehow despite them being in a room with tatami mats banged loudly throughout the room.

"Understood ma'am," Naruto answered quickly and respectfully in a sitting position, a sight that Sarutobi thought he would never see.

"Naruto the reason we came out here was to meet with Yohmei and Kino." Sarutobi said, drawing Naruto's attention away from Kino and to him.

"Eh, why?" Naruto asked tilting his head to the side and scrunching his face up in confusion.

"Because like you brat." Yohmei began; having recovered from his wife's hit. "We can also see ghosts." The short old man revealed.

"Really?" Naruto asked surprised and a little loud.

"Lower your voice." Kino commanded sternly, sitting beside her husband, lifting her cane threateningly. Naruto nodded his head frantically to afraid to say anything by the aura the woman was giving off. "And to answer your question yes we can also see spirits." The woman finished.

"So I'm not just seeing things?" Naruto asked just to be sure.

"No," Kino replied her tone suggesting that she wouldn't be answering the same question again. "Sarutobi brought you to us in the hopes that we'd train you in your powers and help you become a shaman."

"A shaman, what's that?" Naruto questioned confused never having heard that word before.

"To put it simply," Yohmei said, "A shaman is a person with the ability to see spirits and fight alongside them." He explained.

Naruto really wasn't all that excited about being a shaman. The fact that he wasn't seeing things and going crazy didn't really help with the fact that the cerulean eyed boy was still scared of ghosts, besides he wanted to be a shinobi so that he could become Hokage, he didn't want to be a shaman.

"Naruto," Kino said, the whisker marked boy stiffening slightly at the sound of her voice. "Why don't you go explore a little? There are some things that my husband and I want to talk about with Hiruzen, which I'm sure you will find boring." Though it was supposed to be a suggestion nobody in the room thought it was anything less than a command. With a glance toward Sarutobi to make sure it was alright, and getting a nod in confirmation, Naruto left the room to explore the mansion and the nearby area.

Once Naruto left the room Kino turned her focus to Sarutobi. "Hiruzen, while you have been honest to us for the most part, there is something about Naruto you've neglected to tell us." The way she said it made it clear it was not an assumption but an accusation. "Do so, now." Kino stated sternly.

The Sandaime let out a sigh in response, "Very well." He relented before telling them everything he could about Naruto and his childhood so far. If he wanted their help Sarutobi knew he couldn't hide anything from them.

* * *

With Naruto

The blonde shinobi shaman to be quickly exited the mansion to explore the surrounding area, finding it much more interesting than an old couple's home. While there wasn't anything overly interesting around the mansion Naruto moved deeper into the woods not at all bothered by the fact that it was dark out, the sun having already set by the time he and the Sandaime had arrived at the Asakura home, it wouldn't have been the first time that Naruto found himself out in a forest late at night. The exception being that it was usually the villager's fault that he was out, them having formed a mob and chased him into the forest to begin with.

Coming to a nearby steam Naruto stared at it, noticing the moon reflected off its surface before his gaze shifted up to look at the full moon in the sky directly. For as long as the blue eyed boy could remember he always felt this inexplicable pull to the moon and often found himself' gazing at it late at night when the nightmares kept him up. As he looked at the moon he noticed smoke rising up to the sky. It wasn't enough to suggest a forest fire which meant it was one from someone's camp.

'_Who could be all the way out here at this hour?'_ Naruto wondered silently to himself as he made his way towards the source of the smoke. His natural curiosity overriding any attempt his logical side made to warn him about the possible dangers of going to some unknown stranger's camp.

...

Anna Kyoyama was a six year old girl with blonde hair and black eyes that wore a simple black dress. Even at her young age she knew that she was different from everyone else around her. Anna's power to see the long since departed set her apart from most people, but even among those who were spiritually aware like her she was different.

When she as younger Anna had been abandoned by her family because of her abilities that extended much farther than simply being able to see ghosts, the blonde girl could read the minds and hearts of those around her revealing to her a person's true personality. She picked up on the negative emotions of the people around her despite how well they may have tried to hide it. From this ability, which would eventually come to be called reishi, her second power developed the power to summon and create Oni, low ranked demons.

These powers caused people to fear her, to the point that even her parents abandoned her out of fear, and caused her to in turn hate people for the darkness that she could see in them. But these powers also drew to her the attention of the Asakura clan, specifically Kino Asakura, and because of them she was taken in by the family and was being trained to control her powers. Yet despite her improved living conditions and the fact she was starting to gain a meager amount of control over her powers Anna still found herself unable to ignore, or block out, the voices of other people's thoughts, when there were too many people around. As such she found she still held a great dislike for people in general.

That's why as she sat in a small clearing of the forest near the Asakura home, with a small fire keeping her warm, Anna didn't feel all that alone. With the occasional Oni popping up she wasn't exactly lacking in company. So she was honestly surprised when she started to pick up the emotions of someone as they moved towards her. With her reishi ability Anna could tell the person was curious about the person responsible for her camp fire, and yet the young itako couldn't find it in herself' to care. Once the person learned about her powers they would become afraid of her and run away. It was how people always reacted with a few exceptions. Those exceptions being the Asakura clan and those who wanted to use her powers for their own gain.

When a blonde boy her age appeared from the bushes Anna didn't visibly react, barely paying him any attention, but still took in his features. He had on a white t-shirt with a spiral like flame on the front, orange shorts, and simple blue sandals that everyone seemed to ware. He had spikey blonde hair that struck out at all sides and, unlike her' own blonde hair; it seemed to be the same shade as the sun. His eyes were a bright sapphire color that almost captivated the young blonde girl. The boy's skin was slightly tanned, but what drew Anna's attention the most was the whisker marks on his face, three on each cheek.

The moment that Anna saw them a part of her, a very small part, wanted to say kawaii and touch them for herself' to discover if they were real or not. Luckily she was able to restrain herself and keep her composure.

…

When Naruto emerged from the bushes into the small clearing he found himself face to face with a blonde girl his age. While he was a little surprised by her being there Naruto was a more unnerved by the fact she didn't react to him at all and how she just focused on staring at him. Shifting nervously Naruto scratched the back of his head as he tried to break the awkward atmosphere.

"Hi," Naruto started with his signature fox like grin on his face.

"…"

"Uh," Naruto muttered, a little put off by the girl's lack of response, but pressed forward. Here was someone his age not affiliated with his home village, for the first time in his young life Naruto thought he had an actual change to make a friend without one of the villagers pulling the child he was trying to befriend away and tell them to stay away from him. "Who are you? What's your name?" He asked her in a slight rush.

Anna could feel his determination; it was almost staggering to think that someone who was only six had such a strong will already. "Are you an idiot or something?" Anna found herself replying. "Don't you know its common courtesy to give your own name before asking someone for else's, go and die." She said told him in a cold tone.

Naruto wasn't all that bothered, internally happy he got her to say anything at all, well at least he wasn't bothered all that much. "Naruto Uzu-" He began.

"I don't care Blondie." Anna said cutting Naruto off before he could finish introducing himself. "I'm Anna Kyoyama. Now leave or I'll kill you." The blonde girl said, glaring at him briefly before turning her attention back to the fire in front of her.

'"_Go and die." "Leave now or I'll kill you." Who does she think she is?!' _Naruto thought as he felt a flare of annoyance rise up inside of him at Anna for cutting him off before quickly dismissing it. Taking in her appearance Naruto couldn't help but think that the blonde dark eyed girl was cute despite how indifferent she seemed to be. Cuter than the pink haired girl he had seen in the park a few weeks back, Naruto continued to think not noticing the faint dusting of pink on Anna's cheeks as he thought that. Taking a step towards her Naruto also failed to take not of how Anna seemed to flinch at his action.

As Naruto moved closer Anna could feel the control she had over her powers slowly slipping, her reishi ability slowly picking up more and more of Naruto's thoughts and feelings. The sapphire eyed boy was almost unnaturally cheerful and he had a love for ramen that almost border lined on the obsessive. The closer he got the more Anna could unconsciously read about him. "S-stay back," Anna quietly muttered, as she held her head with one of her hands trying to suppress her powers.

Seeing the almost pained expression appear on Anna's face Naruto grew concerned for her wellbeing. "What's wrong?" He asked in clear worry as he took another step to her.

Anna flinched once more, this time Naruto did notice it, as she felt her control on her reishi slip completely. The blonde itako could tell her fellow blonde was honestly concerned for her. But the closer Naruto got the clearer Anna could sense a darkness deep within him, and something else as well, but something was restraining her powers from being able to reach it and discover what it was.

Out of some morbid curiosity Anna tried to determine what the source of the darkness in the otherwise happy go lucky boy was. She found hatred and scorn in his daily from the citizens of his home village as the source of the darkness. Those that didn't outright hate him ignored his existence and passed this all onto their children without revealing why they were turning their children against the blonde orphan, not even Naruto knew why they treated him the way they did. Though Anna suspected it had something to do with whatever the other thing she was sensing within him was. The villager's treatment of Naruto only strengthened Anna's own hatred for people. They hated, feared, and caused Naruto as much pain as possible for no viable reason at all. They caused Naruto to feel a sadness and loneliness that Anna thought only she knew, only to hide it behind false smiles fake bravado in the hope no one would notice how much it really affected him.

The more Anna saw of Naruto's life so far the more Oni that started to appear around her, responding to the negative emotions that Anna was feeling. From Naruto, Anna could sense fear starting to appear within him _'So even he is afraid of me?'_ Anna thought sadly, a part of her having hoped Naruto would understand her and not be frightened by her powers. _'I should have known better.'_ She continued to think her mood plummeting. _'He's no different from the rest of them.'_ Anna concluded, the Oni being summoned growing in number, size, and grotesqueness.

Of course what Anna failed to realize was that it was Naruto's natural fear of ghosts, unable tell the difference between them and the Oni surrounding Anna, and nothing to actually do with her.

'_What are those things?'_ Naruto thought fearfully looking at the numerous Oni that surrounded Anna. _'Are they ghosts?'_ A part of the shinobi to be wanted to either faint or runaway but a bigger part was screaming at him that he had to protect Anna from those monsters, "G-get away from her!" Naruto managed to shout.

Anna was caught by surprise by the sound of Naruto's voice and the protectiveness it held. _'What is he doing? Is he trying to protect me, but I thought he was afraid of me.'_ She thought trying to make sense of what was happening.

'_**He's trying to trick you. He's trying to get you to drop your guard so that he can hurt you.'**_ Anna heard a dark oily voice say from behind her, making her eyes widen fearfully. _**'You can't trust him.'**_

'_What's going on? Who are you?'_ Anna found herself thinking back.

'_**I'm your protector, your guardian angel.'**_ The voice said slyly, _**'One of your children mother.'**_ The voice finished a shadowed figure started to appear behind Anna.

'_You're an Oni?'_ Anna realized as she moved away from it and turned to face it, on occasion an Oni would be created from her powers that would call her mother. But this one seemed different somehow.

'_**I am more than a simple Oni mother.'**_ It said before finally stepped out of the shadows that obscured it. The Oni was a large demon that easily towered over both children, and it would also tower over most adults. It was mostly a golden color with dark markings on its upper body and the upper part of its legs. It had disproportionally large hands that were tipped with metal claws. It didn't have much of a neck as its head was close to its body with a flat head, fangs, solid green eyes, and a long needle like nose**(4)**. _**"I am a Naka-Oni"**_ It said with an almost blood thirsty grin on its fanged face.

"I don't care what you are!" Naruto shouted at it growing a bit bolder. "Just get away from her! I won't let you hurt her!"

The Naka-Oni cackled darkly as if he found what Naruto said was hilarious, his laugh caused both kids to shiver slightly. _**"You should keep your mouth shut brat if you don't want to die so soon. I'm the one that is going to protect mother from you and the rest of this disgusting world."**_ The Naka-Oni declared, _**"Your just pretending to care for mother and wanting to protect her, but we know the truth we know that you're afraid of her and I won't let you hurt her with your lies."**_

Naruto had a look of confusion on his face before quickly growing frustrated with the Naka-Oni's accusation, "Mother? What the hell are you talking about ugly? I'm not lying about anything!" The blonde boy yelled at the demon.

"_**Heh, heh, heh so you say but in the end it doesn't matter I will protect her from you disgusting creatures."**_ The Naka-Oni muttered. _**"But I need more power."**_ The Naka-Oni's solid green eyes shifted to the other Oni that Anna had created in the last few minutes. _**"They'll do."**_ It murmured before lashing out and grabbing a few of the Oni with its large hands and tore into them with its fangs, blood seeping from between its clawed hands.

Naruto and Anna flinched at the gruesome sight and anguished cries of the Oni that were being fed on by the Naka-Oni. The sight before them freezing them in place leaving them with no other choice but to watch as the Naka-Oni devoured the Oni as it grew in both strength and power.

"_**More,"**_ The Naka-Oni muttered after it finished devouring the last Oni that was close by._** "I need more power!"**_ It shouted almost insanely it attention turning to Anna. _**"With your help mother I can become much stronger and gain enough power to wipe away all those disgusting humans."**_ It said as it reached out for the blonde haired girl.

"No, get away from her!" Naruto yelled running to stand in between the two.

The Naka-Oni snarled at Naruto's interference. _**"Get out of my way you stupid brat!"**_ The gold skinned demon roared before swiping at Naruto with one of its overly large hands knocking Naruto away and into a nearby tree, his head banging against the tree and rendering him unconscious, a bit of blood coming out of the back of his head from where it impacted with the tree's trunk.

Anna looked at Naruto's prone form with her eyes widened in shock. Just before Naruto lost consciousness Anna had been able to sense the fear that Naruto felt as he stood between her and the Naka-Oni. But what surpassed that fear was the six year old child's desire to protect Anna. Even knowing that she had created the Naka-Oni in the first place, or he at least should have a hint of her responsibility in its creation, he was willing to stand against it in order to protect her. She was just about to move towards him to make sure he was okay when the Naka-Oni grabbed her, it taking extra care to make sure not to harm the little itako.

"_**There is no need to waste your time with him mother."**_ The Naka-Oni said in its best attempt to sound reassuring, it failed miserably. _**"He would have just gotten in the way. Now we should go to the nearest village. From their darkness you will create more Oni that I can devour to increase my power and destroy them."**_ The Naka-Oni said, explaining his plan and sound almost gleeful at the thought of devouring more Oni and killing any human it comes across.

"No! Let go of me you freak!" Anna shouted as she tried to escape the Naka-Oni's hold, trying not to think of the blood that was on the Naka-Oni's hand which was also being smeared on her.

"_**But mother I only wish to protect you."**_ The Naka-Oni said sounding strangely sad, a sound that didn't match its demon like appearance and the blood that still covered its mouth. _**"Only I can protect you only I care for you."**_ It stated insanely as it dashed away from the clearing leaving Naruto and the small fire behind. **(AN: Was thinking of stopping here but I couldn't bring myself to do it.)**

* * *

Back at the Asakura compound

For the last half hour or so Sarutobi had been telling Yohmei and Kino everything about Naruto. His childhood, the way the villagers treated him, his parentage, and his status as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Neither member of the Asakura was exactly pleased with what they learned about the blonde child that Sarutobi had brought with him.

"For anyone to treat a child in such a way," Kino muttered angrily. "It's disgusting." She finished the aura she was giving off simply murderous, one only a mother could give off. Beside her Yohmei agreed wholeheartedly with his wife.

Sarutobi wished he could say something that would lessen the amount of guilt he felt at Naruto having suffered such a terrible life at such a young age. But he knew that whatever excuses he might try to give, how true it might be that he had done everything he possibly could to give Naruto a better life it wouldn't matter in the end, because Sarutobi knew that no matter what he told himself he would always feel like he failed Naruto. Because he knew he had and he only prayed that Minato and Kushina forgave him when he died, because he knew that he never would be able to forgive himself.

"The fact that the boy has kept even an ounce of his sanity despite the life he lives is astonishing in and of itself." Yohmei commented lightly, only his years of training allowing him to keep his emotions in check. "But knowing this I can't in good conscious teach' Naruto how to be a shaman. Who is to say that in the future the child won't chose to use his powers to take revenge on all those who hurt him? Having such a person with the powers of a shaman, shinobi, and the Kyuubi sealed within him would be far too dangerous." The Asakura clan head stated. Kino chose to remain silent not saying against or for her husband's decision.

Sarutobi opened his mouth to say something in Naruto's defense, how his surrogate grandson would never do such a thing, but stopped before he could even start when they all felt something evil give off a dark and murderous feeling. "What is that?" Sarutobi wondered, after facing the Kyuubi six years ago whatever was giving off the aura didn't really affect the God of Shinobi.

"Anna," Kino answered softly as she stood up and Yohmei doing the same thing, sensing that her student was at the center of all this.

"Anna?" Hiruzen questioned the woman, as he stood up as well.

"She is a young girl that I have taken under my wing." Kino explained as they all exited the room. "She has some extraordinary power, but I fear that she has lost control of it, if what we are sensing is anything to go by. I also believe that your charge is somewhere near her location."

"Then we should hurry before either of them gets hurt by whatever is giving off this sensation." Sarutobi said seriously.

…

A few minutes later the three elders made it to the clearing that Naruto and Anna had been in not too long ago. They became worried when they saw Naruto passed out, with some blood on the back of his head, and fresh blood on the ground. Rushing over to Naruto's side Sarutobi was glad to see that whatever wounds Naruto had suffered had already healed and that his surrogate grandson was merely passed out.

"Whatever was here is gone now and took Anna with it." Kino observed a bit saddened and worried that she did not find her apprentice.

"We must find her then." Yohmei said, "Whatever gave off that aura earlier is too dangerous to be left alone and if it has Anna then who knows what it will do with her." He said a part of him just as concerned for Anna as his wife.

"We should hurry then." Sarutobi said, as he finished checking up on Naruto and removed his Hokage robes to reveal his battle outfit a black shinobi outfit and a helmet on his head. "Yohmei and I will go after whatever took Anna. Kino can you stay here and look after Naruto?" Hiruzen asked the blind itako woman.

"Very well," Kino agreed nodding her head. "Just be sure to bring my student back." She told both men.

"Don't worry Kino we'll bring Anna back safe and sound." Yohmei promised his wife.

"Yohmei, you should climb on my back." Sarutobi said, "I'll be able to get us to Anna faster if you tell me where to go." He explained. The Sandaime wasn't sure what he could do to help since if this situation had anything to do with spirits then he would be all but useless in the fight, not being able to see or harm the ghost they might be confronting.

Yohmei didn't look all that comfortable with the idea of being on another man's back, but eventually agreed. Shamans weren't as physically fit as shinobi, especially when they got older, so it only made sense to rely on Sarutobi's greater speed to go after Anna. After a few awkward seconds the two elderly men took off in the direction that the Killing Intent was coming from. It didn't matter what the source was, Killing Intent was the same no matter what.

Not long after Sarutobi and Yohmei left Naruto started to stir. "Ow," He said grabbing the back of his head where his head had impacted with the tree. "What happened?" He asked out loud.

"Something attacked you and Anna and you were rendered unconscious." Kino answered, drawing Naruto's attention to her.

"Kino-baasan," Naruto muttered before Kino hit him with her cane. "OW! What the hell."

"I told you, you will show me proper respect." Kino said as if that excused her actions.

"Whatever," The blonde whisker marked child murmured, before a look of realization appeared on his face and he began to look around. "Wait, where's Anna?" He asked.

"Something took her." Kino replied, "Do you have any idea what that something was?" The elderly woman asked him.

Naruto tried to remember what happened before he passed out, which was kind of hard with the way his head was hurting, but slowly he remembered what transpired. "It called itself a Naka-Oni; it ate all these other monsters to get bigger. It called Anna mother and said she could make him stronger, and that it would protect her." Naruto said describing what happened.

"I see," Kino said quietly, troubled by the information.

"I have to go help her." Naruto said as he picked himself up.

"Oh," Kino said feigning interest. "And what exactly do you expect to do?" She questioned him, the question caused Naruto to pause mid-step. "For all the power that Sarutobi might have as a shinobi even he can't do anything in shaman matters, and this is a shaman matter." Kino told him seriously.

"That won't stop me." Naruto said turning to look at the woman. "I'll save her; I'll save Anna from the Naka-Oni." He declared.

"Oh," Kino said once more this time genuinely interested and curious. "And why would you risk your life for her? You two just met after all, and knowing my student she wasn't exactly the most welcoming." She pointed out.

"Because," Naruto started, "Because her eyes are like mine." He stated looking down at the ground, "She tries to hide it by acting like she doesn't care, but I can tell that she feels alone like I do. Anna feels like she won't ever have any friends that care about her. I want to show her that, that isn't true." Looking back up at Kino the elderly woman sensed a fire in him that someone his age shouldn't be able to have. "That I will be her friend and be with her always, no matter what." Naruto promised.

A small smile appeared on Kino's face at the boy's vow before she wiped it off her face and tried to act as serious as possible. "I already told you that a shinobi cannot help Anna only a shaman can. When we told you the truth about shaman I sensed no interest in you about being a shaman, only relief that being able to see spirits wasn't weird or strange." Kino said, pausing a moment to let her words to sink in before continuing. "If you want to save Anna then you must become a shaman."

"Fine, whatever I don't care. As long as I can save and protect her." Naruto said brazenly.

"Even, even if that means giving up your dreams of being a shinobi, of becoming Hokage of your village?" Kino asked him solemnly causing Naruto to stiffen at her question. "If you choose to save Anna and become a shaman then you will never be a shinobi." She told him, refraining from telling him the truth in order to see what he would do.

For a moment Naruto wasn't sure what to do. As long as he could remember all Naruto ever dreamed about was becoming a shinobi and Hokage to gain the respect of the villagers. In a couple of years he would join the academy prove himself to be a totally badass ninja, go on amazing missions, fight enemy shinobi, and save princesses and countries. But now he was being told he would have to give it all up if he wanted to save Anna. Then the moment passed and Naruto knew what he would do. "Fine I don't care I will save Anna from the Naka-Oni. If I can't become a shinobi then I'll become the best shaman ever so that I can protect Anna and anyone else from whatever ghost wants to hurt them!" He proclaimed.

"Is that so?" Kino mused, a bit of amusement in her voice, with her abilities she could tell that Naruto was being honest and his desire to get stronger was entirely focused around protecting those he cared about. There was no hunger for power in the young child that would develop into him seeking out revenge, just the will to protect. "If you are that determined then my husband will train you to become a true shaman. But if you wish to save Anna from the Naka-Oni then you better hurry." Kino stated gesturing in the same direction that her husband and the Sandaime had taken off in a few minutes ago.

"Right," Naruto said a large fox like grin on his face before running.

"That boy, he is a special one." Kino whispered almost fondly, turning to walk back to her home. "With him I am sure that Anna will break free from the pain and loneliness in her heart." She decided confidently. _'But to a girl like Anna words alone mean nothing.'  
_

…

Sarutobi and Yohmei were quickly closing in on the Naka-Oni; already they could see some obvious signs that the golden skinned demon had been there not too long ago. "Listen Hiruzen," Yohmei started from atop the Sandaime's back. "Once we catch up with whatever has taken Anna I shall take the lead. I am afraid you won't be able to do much against this opponent, so you will be the one responsible of retrieving Anna and ensuring that she is kept safe afterwards." The old shaman instructed.

"I understand," Sarutobi replied, knowing that what Yohmei said was true, not even being able to see their opponent once they reach them, and that it was best that he just protected the girl and let Yohmei handle what they will be fighting. Not long later the two finally caught up to the Naka-Oni, though all that Sarutobi could see was a young blonde girl, covered in a bit of blood, being held in midair struggling to escape from something's hold as she was carried through the forest. "There she is." The Sandaime stated.

Yohmei took a moment to take in the Naka-Oni's appearance before he sent a few of his shikigami kooni to stop it, "Release Anna at once Oni!" Yohmei commanded getting off of Sarutobi's back.

Turning to face the two the Naka-Oni had a large fanged grin on its face. _**"What's this, a couple of old fossils trying to stop me? I'm no mere Oni you know, I am a Naka-Oni can you beat me?"**_ The Naka-Oni questioned amusedly. _**"What do you think you can do to stop me? Can that one even see me?"**_ It asked pointing at Sarutobi with one of its clawed hands and when he didn't visibly react' the Naka-Oni was almost laughing madly, holding its head with its free hand. _**"Oh I will enjoy ripping you both apart and consuming your flesh."**_

"That won't happen' monster." Yohmei stated, summoning a few more of his shikigami kooni to his side.

"_**Do you think those rotting tree leaves spirits will be able to stop me?"**_ The Naka-Oni asked. _**"I'll rip every single last one of them to pieces. Then I'll proceed to consume even more Oni to increase my power and wipe every last of you filthy humans off the face of the earth!"**_ It declared loudly.

"We'll see about that." Yohmei replied, "Hiruzen," He continued speaking softly to his friend. "I'll do my best to give you an opening to retrieve Anna wait for my signal." The Asakura clan head said, getting a nod from the Sandaime. Focusing his attention back on the Naka-Oni Yohmei sent the shikigami kooni that he summoned at it.

Keeping a firm hold on Anna the Naka-Oni lashed out at the incoming shikigami slicing through them easily with the claws of its free hand. Yohmei wasn't the least bit discouraged as he summoned more shikigami and sent them at the Naka-Oni, having some of them circle around the needle nosed Oni and attack it from behind. The Naka-Oni jumped into the air, avoiding the shikigami before slamming back into them from above crushing most of them. Those that weren't crushed were immediately torn apart either by its claws or fangs. After dealing with the last of the nature spirits the Naka-Oni dashed towards Yohmei and Sarutobi.

Yohmei didn't have to say anything before Sarutobi grabbed him and moved out of the way of the charging Oni, the Sandaime seeing how Anna's floating form was suddenly moving towards them guessed correctly that the Naka-Oni was trying to attack them, shortly after a dust cloud covered the area where the two older men had been standing seconds ago. When the dust had started to settle it revealed the Naka-Oni with its fist embedded into the ground, the earth cratered underneath it, Anna still held in his hand though it seemed to have lost some of its gentleness and care when it came to holding her as she winced in pain from the pressure it was exerting on her.

Seeing that they were running out of time Yohmei sent as many shikigami kooni as he could without endangering Anna. The little leaf spirits slammed into the Naka-Oni irritating it and making it slash at them with its massive arm trying get rid of all the shikigami. After a shikigami barely escaped its clawed hands the Naka-Oni summoned up its furyoku and unleashed it in a terrifying roar, the energy that it released destroying the nearby shikigami so that only a few remained.

Even Sarutobi could feel the Naka-Oni's release of energy and from the grave look that Yohmei had on his face whatever the creature did was not good for them.

"_**Is that the best that you can do old man?"**_ The Naka-Oni asked. _**"Can't you see that all your efforts just make me stronger? With all the hatred and darkness you humans emit mother makes me stronger by creating more Oni for me to devour."**_ It held its head with its free hand before continuing,_** "It doesn't matter how hard you try to hide it or suppress it; mother will still be able sense it deep within you. Soon enough new Oni will be created from our battle and then I'll become even stronger. What will you do then when you can barely even hurt me now?!"**_ It shouted at them lashing its arm out. _**"In the end all this is pointless. I am simply following my mother's will she wants to be rid of all you disgusting humans. You claim to want to save her, yet this is exactly what she wants. I was born from her hatred, insecurities, and jealousy it is her will that drives me, and will see me kill you all. Isn't that right mother?"**_ The Naka-Oni asked by looking at down at Anna that it still held in its arm.

"I…I," Anna struggled to say something.

"_**Go ahead mother tell them the truth."**_ The Naka-Oni urged with a large fanged grin.

"Shut up!" A voice none of them were expecting suddenly shouted. Looking toward the source they were all surprised to see Naruto emerge from the foliage. Naruto had some scratches, and dirt marks on his clothes, and he was panting slightly with a bit of sweat trailing down his face from running all the way there.

"Naruto!" Sarutobi gasped shocked to see his young charge there.

"Foolish child, what are you doing here run away now!" Yohmei ordered.

"_**Heh, if it isn't the little brat."**_ The Naka-Oni said. _**"Did you come here so I can kill you? Well if that is what you want then I'm more than happy to oblige you. Though I just may end up eating you for all that delicious furyoku and darkness you possess."**_ It said as it licked lips hungrily.

I said SHUT UP!" Naruto shouted, surprising everyone a bit by the force behind his voice. "I'm here for Anna, so let her go!" The blonde ordered.

The Naka-Oni just stared at the boy for a moment before it burst out laughing. _**"Ha, ha, ha, ha well look who' grew a pair."**_ It said before sneering down at Naruto,_** "I'll be sure to stomp them into dust when I get my hands on you."**_ The Naka-Oni muttered darkly before pointing one of its clawed hands at Naruto. _**"How exactly do you think you're going to save mother when you were so scared before?"**_

"I'm still scared." Naruto admitted, his clenched fist shaking a bit. But when he looked at the Naka-Oni straight in the eye there wasn't even a hint of the fear he said he felt only determination. "But I've already decided that I'm going to save Anna. Even if it means that I'll never become Hokage I'll become the strongest shaman ever and protect her."

"It seems that Kino has had some words with the boy." Yohmei mused, looking at the whisker marked boy. "It is the only way that he would know that it is normally impossible for a person to be both a shaman and a shinobi." He continued, "Clearly she didn't tell him about his unique situation for some reason." The shaman finished.

"I must get him out of here before he hurts himself." Sarutobi decided moving to get Naruto to safety.

"Wait Hiruzen," Yohmei said stopping his friend. "While you may not like it the brat being here might give us the opportunity to retrieve Anna." The Sandaime glared at the shorter man for the suggestion, but Yohmei pressed on. "It is not a suggestion I'm exactly proud of, but we must take advantage of the brat's sudden appearance." He reasoned, turning back to look at the events unfold.

Anna looked at Naruto in equal parts shock and surprise before glaring at him. "W-what are you saying you idiot!" She shouted at him. "Don't you get it? The Naka-Oni was created because of me! People who get to close to me always end up dying, that's why I said you should leave!" Anna finished, a few tears appearing in her eyes that she refused to let spill over.

"I don't care I won't let you be alone anymore Anna!" Naruto shouted back at her.

"Don't talk like you know me!" Anna screamed her tears on the verge of over flowing. "What do you know of my suffering?" She questioned him angrily, "The pain of being abandoned, the pain of my hatred, and of being hated!"

"I understand!" Naruto shot back. "I know what it is like to be hated by everyone and how easy it is to hate everyone back for it." The cerulean eyed boy continued much more softly, as he looked down. In his mind Naruto could see every hateful glare and every spiteful world directed at him by the villagers, and with her reishi power Anna could see it all as well. "But hating them won't make you feel better, it won't make the loneliness go away."

"Shut up already!" Anna shouted shaking her head. "What the hell are you talking about?! Is that supposed to mean something to me?! I told you not to talk like you know me! Stop blathering and run away!"

"I won't!" Naruto replied.

"_**Then die already!"**_ The Naka-Oni roared, charging at Naruto and swiping at him with its claws.

"No!" Yohmei shouted, sending a few shikigami kooni to try and intercept the attack.

Naruto dove out of the way of the Naka-Oni's slash, Yohmei's shikigami pushing the demon spirit's arm a bit further away, but one of the Naka-Oni's claws managed cut into Naruto's left arm.

"Naruto!" Sarutobi gasped, not being able to see what was happening he only knew that suddenly his surrogate grandson was hurt as blood trailed down his arm from a slash that appeared out of nowhere in his perspective. The Sandaime was about to make his way to Naruto's side when Yohmei stopped him by holding up his arm.

"Stop Hiruzen," Yohmei said seriously. "I understand that you may be worried about Naruto and want to treat his wound, but you are unable to see the Naka-Oni. It is far stronger and faster than I thought it would be, if you leave my side there is the very real chance that even someone of your skill and abilities will end up gravely injured. We must stay focused on defeating the Naka-Oni and retrieving Anna." The old man said solemnly.

Although he wanted to disagree Sarutobi knew that Yohmei had a point, so he reluctantly stood back and waited keeping a close eye on Naruto. If the blonde child was furthered harm Hiruzen didn't care if it put his own life in danger he would protect Naruto. He owed it to both Minato and Kushina to make sure no harm came to their child if he could help it.

Standing back up Naruto clutched his wounded arm, ignoring the blood that was running down it. A fierce look in his eyes that burned brightly "I won't, I won't run away. I told you that I already decided to become the strongest shaman ever, so that I can protect Anna from things like you, Naka-Oni, or anything else!" At this point Naruto focused his gaze solely on Anna. "Neither of us will ever have to feel alone again. Even if the rest of the world hates us I promise that I'll stay by your side forever. That's my promise of a lifetime!" Naruto declared gallantly.

The tears that Anna had been holding back started to spill over. _'He really is an idiot,'_ Anna thought. _'What is going on about? Giving up on his dream to become Hokage? That's all he ever cared about, and for what? To "protect me," to "stay by my side," the idiot is hurt and he's saying stuff like that.'_ "Am I supposed to thank you?!" Anna continued out loud, "Because I won't. I won't say thank you." She told him.

"Then don't, because it won't change anything." Naruto replied as he started to grin. "So listen up my name is Naruto Uzumaki future strongest shaman ever, believe it!"

"_**Shut up already you annoying BRAT!"**_ The Naka-Oni rushing at the boy with the intention of his clawed fist through his body, it could feel Anna reacting to Naruto, opening her heart to him and actually believing that her loneliness had come to an end. It had to end the brat's life before that happened, and once he did the despair that Anna would feel would create so many Oni that his power would skyrocket once he ate them all.

"No!" Anna shouted in some actual concern, as she the Oni rushed at Naruto and dragged her along with it.

For the second time that day the Naka-Oni's fist slammed into Naruto, the blonde haired boy raising his arms up in a feeble attempt to defend himself' as he was thrown back by the force of the attack, but unlike last time this time he wasn't rendered unconscious. With the Naka-Oni targeting Naruto, Yohmei summoned a bunch of shikigami and sent them all at the Naka-Oni's unprotected back, causing the Naka-Oni roared in pain at the shikigami kooni slamming into its back.

"I-is t-that all you got." Naruto managed to say challengingly as he stood up from the ground, gaining everyone's attention.

"_**You really have some death wish, don't you brat?"**_ The Naka-Oni asked, _**"Going on about protecting mother and becoming the strongest shaman ever. But the truth is that right now you don't even have the smallest bit of training as a shaman, so what can you possibly do?"**_ It dared.

"T-that doesn't matter. I will stop you!" Naruto replied, getting to charge the Naka-Oni. Subconsciously Naruto started to call forth his chakra and furyoku at once channeling through his body, translucent blue and fiery blue flowing off his body occasionally. In a burst of unexpected speed Naruto shot off towards the Naka-Oni. Though momentarily caught by surprise Naruto wasn't nearly fast enough to reach the Naka-Oni before it recovered from its shock and lashed out at the speeding blonde. The Naka-Oni's fist slammed into Naruto from above, a few more cuts appearing on the blonde, before actually bounced off the ground which the gold skinned Oni took advantage of by delivering a swift to the boy's midsection sending him skidding across the ground.

Despite the injuries he was suffering, a broken bone or two and a broken rib, through sheer force of will Naruto once more stood up. Though it was obvious that it took a considerable amount of effort from the boy and he seemed to favoring one side as put as he seemed to grimace in pain when he put some weight on his left leg. Chakra and furyoku once more started to appear around the cerulean eyed boy as summoned a bit more of both energies to the surface compared to last time.

Seeing the Naka-Oni focused completely on attacking the blonde Yohmei summoned a small legion of shikigami kooni to his side before sending every single last one of them at the Naka-Oni, concentrating greatly on the arm that held Anna. Not suspecting the attack the Naka-Oni let out a roar of pain as the small army of the nature spirits slammed into it, a majority of the shikigami attacking its arm and causing it to forcibly release Anna, "Hiruzen now!" Yohmei shouted as the shaman summoned even more shikigami to keep the Naka-Oni distracted.

Sarutobi didn't need to be told twice, as he took off in astounding dash toward the falling girl, grabbing her out of midair, before appearing beside Naruto. Setting Anna down beside Naruto, Sarutobi carefully looked over his surrogate grandson's wounds. It was clear to the seasoned shinobi that the boy couldn't take much more abuse from the Naka-Oni; any normal child would probably be far worse off. Luckily Naruto was both an Uzumaki and a Jinchuuriki giving him a stronger body' than most, which also with stand greater injury.

Anna was carefully looking Naruto over as well, taking note of every injury and how the blonde male seemed to have a bit of trouble breathing. "You idiot," Anna said, though it lacked any real bite to make it sound insulting. "Why did you put yourself through that? Look at yourself you can barely stand." She said doing her best to hide the fact that she was actually very worried about him.

"What are you talking about? For the future strongest shaman in the world this is nothing." Naruto assured her weakly.

"Idiot," She muttered quietly the smallest of smiles appearing on her face.

"_**Why?"**_ The Naka-Oni spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to it. _**"Why are you acting that way mother, why are you showing so much concern for that annoying brat?!"**_ It demanded. _**"Where is your desire to kill every last human? Is your resolve really that weak?"**_ When Anna didn't offer the Naka-Oni any answers and simply looked at it impassively it became enraged. _**"I'll kill you then! If you're so easily swayed then you don't deserve to live!"**_ The Naka-Oni roared, raising both its clawed hands in order to strike Anna down.

"I won't let you touch her!" Naruto shouted back angrily, as red chakra started swirl around him. Naruto was on his last leg, despite what he said in the contrary, the injuries he received from the Naka-Oni barely leaving him conscious and his sudden spike in rage at having the Naka-Oni threaten Anna's life had the physically tired boy giving into his rage.

'_This chakra it's the Kyuubi's,'_ Sarutobi thought looking at his surrogate grandson in anxiously. _'Has the seal broken?'_ He wondered in fear for all their safety before he thought it over more carefully. _'No, Naruto's calling it to the surface in his anger.'_ The Sandaime realized.

'_What is this?'_ Anna thought with wide eyes, her reishi power spiraling out of her control at what she was currently feeling from Naruto, her arms lifted defensively in front of her. _'Where is all this hatred coming from? There is so much of it!'_ The blonde girl thought on the verge of being overwhelmed by it. But despite it all at the very center of the endless sea of hatred she could sense one other thing that she focused on, Naruto's wish to protect her above everything else, _'Naruto…'_

The red chakra spiraled around Naruto's body converging into an ethereal image of a fox, as his body went through some minor changes. The most notable changes were his eyes changing from sapphire blue to a crimson red with slit pupils, his whisker marks became more pronounced, and his teeth elongated into fangs. The fox above Naruto let out a roar before it surged at the Naka-Oni.

The evil spirit tried to move out of the way of the red chakra construct but it proved too fast for the Oni and easily caught up with it, the Naka-Oni let out a wail of pain as the fox's chakra slammed into it. When the Bijuu's chakra dissipated it revealed the Naka-Oni to still be standing, but several severe burn marks manifested where the chakra had hit it. After the Kyuubi's chakra disappeared Naruto passed out the strain of using the fox's chakra.

"_**Mother,"**_ The Naka-Oni called weakly, struggling to raise its hand towards Anna. _**"Help me. We can still make them all pay for all the pain they've caused you."**_ It pleaded with the blonde girl. Anna refused to even acknowledge the Naka-Oni's words, as she knelt down beside Naruto half out of concern for him and the other half because she was still overwhelmed by the sea of hatred that the blonde boy had unleased not too long ago. _**"So you've made your choice?"**_ The Naka-Oni growled out, dropping its hand. _**"Do you expect me to just disappear?! I refuse, I won't die!"**_ It shouted as it started to sink into the ground. _**"I'll gain unimaginable power without you mother! Once I do I shall return and show you the errors of your mistake."**_ The Naka-Oni declared.

Yohmei tried to stop the creature by sending shikigami at it, but the Naka-Oni still had enough power to dispose of the nature spirits.

"_**Until we meet again, mother,"**_ The Naka-Oni said ominously before disappearing into the ground completely. Once the Naka-Oni was gone Anna passed out from the strain that her reishi abilities put on her, along with the emotional and physical drain of all she went through that night.

* * *

When Naruto woke up he noticed a few things straight away. One was the sound of a sliding door closing, two was that he was in a futon, and three was that it was morning if the light streaming in through a nearby window and the birds chirping outside was any indication. Looking around didn't reveal much as the room was hardly furnished with the exception of a dresser, a desk, a low table and a few cushions besides that the room was bare of anything worth noting. Hearing the door to the room open again caused Naruto to turn his head toward the direction of the noise to see Sarutobi walking into the room with Yohmei and Kino walking in behind him.

"Old man what happened, where are we?" Naruto asked as he struggled to remember anything that happened after the Sandaime retrieved Anna from the Naka-Oni. "Where is Anna, is she okay?!" He continued alarmed sitting up when he didn't see the blonde girl with them.

"Easy there Naruto." Kino said calmly, placing a hand on the blonde child's shoulder and making him lie back down. "Anna is perfectly safe." She assured the boy, as she and the others took seat beside the futon.

"We are currently in the Asakura compound; you've been out for three days Naruto." Sarutobi continued as he began to explain. "Once we freed Anna from the Naka-Oni's hold you passed out soon after from the wounds that you sustained. Not long after the Naka-Oni retreated and we brought you back here to recuperate." Hiruzen told him before a grin appeared on the old man's face. "Since that night Miss Anna has refused to leave your side unless absolutely necessary." He said with a teasing quality in his voice, enjoying the look of embarrassment that appeared on the blonde boy's face. "It was only this morning that, not too long ago actually, that she finally exited and returned to her own room, informing us of you regaining consciousness just now." The Sandaime finished.

"Eh, really?" Naruto asked rubbing the back of his head.

"Yup, seems you left quite the impression on the young girl." Hiruzen continued to tease him.

"That's enough Hiruzen," Kino cut in. "You can embarrass the boy later. We have important matters to discuss with him." She said with Sarutobi nodding his head compliantly. Kino turned her focus to Naruto before continuing, "Alright Naruto do you remember what I said about becoming a shaman?" The old itako asked him.

"Yeah," Naruto replied nodding his head a bit of sadness entering his voice. "You told me that only a shaman would be able to save Anna and if I wanted to save her I would have to give up on being a shinobi to be a shaman." He said looking down for a moment before looking back up, all traces of sadness disappearing. "And I'm fine with that, I don't care if I never get to be Hokage because I was able to help rescue Anna from the Naka-Oni and keep her safe." The blonde boy said definitely.

"My wife was right you really are special." Yohmei stated, staring at Naruto intently. "You've been told that your longtime dream of becoming the Hokage of your village is gone, and yet you don't seem all that bothered by it. Why?" The old shaman questioned the boy.

Naruto thought the question over for a second before answering. "Because saving Anna was more important than me wanting to be Hokage, she knew the pain of loneliness and having everyone' hate you. She knows how I feel. Anna didn't deserve to be used by the Naka-Oni like it wanted, so I chose to be a shaman, the strongest shaman ever, so that Anna doesn't ever have to worry about any other Oni trying to use her or hurt other people." Naruto stated, the three elders smiling at his declaration.

"Hm, is that so?" Yohmei mused.

"Naruto," Kino started. "While it is true that a person cannot be both a shaman and a shinobi, you are the sole exception." She told him.

"What?" Naruto asked confused. "Then why did you tell me that I would have to give up on your dream of being Hokage!" He demanded raising the voice a bit, but when he saw Kino raise her cane threateningly he immediately apologized quietly.

"I did it to see what kind of person you were." Kino answered him, lowering her cane. "I wanted to see to what ends you would go for the sake of a girl you just met, to see if you were willing to give up your dream, and to test the strength of your resolve." She told him seriously. "I was amazed to find a child had a will such as yours, one that didn't even second think his decision. That is why we have decided to train you to become a shaman."

'_Yeah "we,"'_ Yohmei thought sarcastically to himself, knowing that he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. "But that isn't the only decision we have come to." The old man continued out loud. "We wish to adopt you into our clan." Yohmei said, looking Naruto squarely in the eye.

Naruto's eyes widened at the information disbelief clearly evident in them, "Really?" He asked hesitantly. As an orphan Naruto had always longed for a family of his own. But his experience in the orphanage, seeing every child but him be adopted and to only be looked at with hatred by the couples that came in and have to listen to their cruel words, had all but robbed him of the idea he would one day be adopted into a family. "Why?"

"Hiruzen has told us of the terrible life that you've lead so far." Kino began in a soothing voice. "No child should have to suffer through such a life on their own. To grow up in such conditions and still be so good hearted is nothing short of remarkable. You've spoken of how Anna' should not be have to be alone, well we agree that neither should you." The Asakura matriarch explained.

"That isn't the only reason that we are making you this offer." Yohmei spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to him. "In a few years' time a tournament will be held that will decide who is most deserving of the title of Shaman King, the strongest shaman in the world, and the power and responsibility that goes with it. Because of terrible circumstances our grandson and heir to the clan died during birth, leaving us without anyone to represent the Asakura clan within the tournament. But by adopting you into the clan, not only will we have an heir and a representative in the tournament, but you will also have an advantage against all other contestants by being a shaman and a shinobi." The man stated.

"So," Naruto murmured quietly his fists clenched tightly in his lap. "The only reason that you want to adopt me is because you want me to win some tournament for you?" The blonde shaman asked indignantly.

Thwack, Thwack

"Ow!" "Ow!"

Two simultaneous cries were heard from Yohmei and Naruto, as they held their faces where they were hit by Kino. "What was that for?!" They both demanded of the blind itako.

"That," Kino said thrusting her cane so close to Yohmei that it almost hit his face again, "Was for your lack of tact." She told her husband before looking at Naruto, pointing her cane just as close at him. "And that is for ignoring everything I just said. While it is true that we need an heir and would like you to represent the Asakura clan in the Shaman tournament that does not change the fact that we wish to end your loneliness by giving you a family to rely on." Kino said gently. "In the end it is your choice, we will not force you to become a part of our family or to be a shaman if that is not what you want."

Naruto looked at two Asakura's in astonishment because of the honesty in Kino's voice, Yohmei looking a little apologetic at the misunderstanding he had unintentionally caused, as a large fox like grin appeared on his face. "You're serious?" Naruto asked just to be sure, Kino and Yohmei nodding their head in confirmation, "Alright I'll become a member of the Asakura clan besides I already promised Anna that I was going to be the strongest shaman ever, if I have to prove it by becoming Shaman King then that's fine with me." The boy said confidently.

"Very well," Kino said as she stood up, "Your training will be spread out over the years and will be looked over Yohmei. Since you'll be entering the Ninja Academy soon you will come to us for training during your breaks from the academy, with occasionally having you miss a few weeks at least during the school year." The itako explained to. "Sarutobi will give us a few scrolls to help you with your ninja training on those occasions to ensure you don't fall behind your fellow classmates. Now you should rest, we'll talk more about your training later." Kino instructed before she, Yohmei, and Sarutobi exited the room, leaving Naruto alone to get some peaceful rest.

_Flashback End_

"For the next four days Naruto recuperated at Asakura family home before we returned to the village. Neither he or Anna' seem to recall Naruto calling on the Kyuubi's chakra and there haven't been any incidents with it since then." The Sandaime explained, coming out of his memory and focusing back on Kakashi. "In the time that we were there Miss Anna didn't once leave her room, though Kino said that it wasn't uncommon for Anna to stay in her room like that."

"What of the Naka-Oni?" Kakashi asked.

"It has disappeared; there have been no sightings of it since that day." Sarutobi answered, "I asked Yohmei once while the Naka-Oni would take so long to recover after that night." He continued, "Did you know Kakashi that the Bijuu are a contradiction of sorts?" Hiruzen asked, seemingly changing topics completely. "People consider them demons, but they are giant constructs of chakra that have gained sentience, yet their chakra is poisonous to humans like the yoki of demons. Yohmei informed me later that this attribute is why the Naka-Oni was so injured by the Kyuubi's chakra. Without using any of his more powerful techniques, which would have endangered Anna's life, it would have taken much longer to rescue Anna before Yohmei could seriously attack the Naka-Oni with his shikigami." Sarutobi finished.

"How fortunate," The Jounin commented. "I remember the village being strangely peaceful when the academy was out on break, I didn't realize it was because Naruto was out of the village." Kakashi said as he thought back to those days, of course with him having to go on missions for the village he was never around long enough to realize why that was. "What about his engagement to Anna?" The grey haired Jounin asked, "And this Amidamaru?"

"Amidamaru is Naruto's Guardian Ghost; they met while Naruto was with Yohmei with training and somehow convinced the spirit to become his partner." Sarutobi replied, "As to his engagement to Anna it was something that Kino and Yohmei decided afterwards, an old tradition of the Asakura clan where the wife of the next clan head is chosen among potential candidates, though when I informed Naruto of his engagement he didn't seem all that surprised." Hiruzen commented casually, remembering the blonde's lack of surprise or shock.

What Sarutobi didn't know was that Naruto did see Anna one last time before they left.

* * *

Naruto walked through the village with Anna and Haku on either side as they made their way to Naruto's apartment. Glancing to his right at his fiancée Naruto thought back to the night before Sarutobi and he returned to Konoha when he first met Yohmei, Kino, and Anna.

_Flashback_

It was late into the night when Naruto felt something poking into his side demanding he wake up from his slumber. With a bit of unintelligible grumbling Naruto wearily opened his eyes only for them to widen almost comically when he noticed that the person responsible for waking him was Anna, who was sitting down next to his futon. "AN-!"

SMACK

"Be quiet," Anna said chastising, lowering her hand after smacking her fellow blonde. "Everyone else is asleep; it would be rude to wake them at this time of night."

'_Then why did you wake me up?'_ Naruto complained questioningly in his head, as he absently noted the fact that she was wearing dark blue PJ's.

Anna gave the boy a light glare that made Naruto shiver fearfully at the sight of it. "You know I can read your mind." She told him plainly.

"Eh, really?!" Naruto asked surprised. After calming down a bit, and rubbing the cheek that Anna slapped soothingly, "What are you doing here at this time of night?" Naruto asked her.

"There are a few things I want to say to you before you leave." Anna replied, "First off I've decided to become stronger. You were willing to fight the Naka-Oni for my sake, but the Naka-Oni is my responsibility. I want to be strong enough to deal with it when that time comes." She said firmly before a light blush appeared on her cheeks. "I also wanted to say… Thank you for everything." The girl mumbled quietly, but still loud enough for Naruto to hear. "Even though I told you to leave and you got hurt you refused to abandon me and even made me that promise of a lifetime. So I accept your proposal."

"My what?" Naruto asked.

"You promised to become the strongest shaman ever to stay by my side forever." Anna said standing up and starting her way towards the door. "So when you win the Shaman Tournament and become Shaman King I'll become your wife, and Shaman Queen." She stated absolutely her back to him, as she reached the door.

"Wait just like that? Don't I get a say in this?" Naruto questioned nervously.

"Are you going back on your promise?" Anna asked, looking at him from over her shoulder.

"Of course not," Naruto replied instantly. "Naruto Uzumaki never goes back on his word." The Uzumaki proclaimed boldly.

"Good to know," Anna said, turning her head back to the door and opening it. "Then I'll be waiting patiently for you to fulfill your promise. Just so you know if you betray me, I will probably never forgive you." She finished calmly, yet with a threatening tone to it that promised retribution, before she exited the room and closed the door behind her. "Goodbye my future Shaman King."

_Flashback End_

'_Anna really hasn't changed in all this time.'_ Naruto thought, thinking back to when they arrived back in Konoha. The blonde shinobi had noticed the blush on Anna's face and the small smile she wore while they were traveling that spoke of how much she enjoyed being carried by her fiancé, before she slapped him when they reached the village gates. _'She still can't be honest with her feelings, especially when it embarrasses her. But that's what makes Anna so cute.'_ The blonde shinobi shaman decided, and then he noticed the look that Anna was giving him before realization hit him. _'Crap,'_ He thought as Anna raised her left hand.

She had been reading his thoughts.

* * *

**AN: Another chapter done. Before I finish I want to make it absolutely clear that I'm not replacing Shaman King characters with those of Naruto. Some might not be in this fic, but none are being replaced.**

**(1): It's Fanfiction let's just go with it.**

**(2): Again Fanfiction.**

**(3): I'm not sure what kind of role she is going to play in this fic as she didn't really show up in the anime. And from the research I did she didn't show up all that often in the magna either. I had originally killed her off along with Yoh. Please no one hate me for that I just couldn't see how I could make my idea work out without killing Yoh, as if Zeke/Hao was born without a twin then Yohmei wouldn't have a reason to hesitate and kill him. And if Naruto wasn't born an Uzumaki then that would just ruin a whole bunch of things.**

**(4): It is based on its appearance in Shaman King wikia.**


End file.
